Technical, Operational, And Business Aspects All To Be Explored

Encouraged by the acceptance of its ‘Sharklet’ program for new A320 Family aircraft, Airbus has decided to pursue a possible retrofit option of large winglets for the legacy in-service fleet. To this end, Airbus is evaluating the technical, operational and business aspects of a retrofit offering, to provide a solution for A320 Family aircraft currently in service.

“We are confident that our customers will appreciate not only the benefits from improved fuel efficiency that retrofitting large winglets will bring to their in-service A320 Family fleets, but also from the enhanced residual value," said Tom Williams, Executive Vice President, Programs, at the Paris Air Show Tuesday. “We’ve begun investigating in earnest, and our technical teams are confident that we can develop a retrofit solution. We are committed to making it happen either in-house or with external partners.” 

Airbus says the proposed large winglet retrofit offering will directly benefit from its experience in developing the forward-fit Sharklet option for new-build aircraft, for which tests will soon be performed on the planemaker's flight test A320 MSN1 aircraft.

FMI: www.airbus.com