Air NZ first to get Airbus 'sharklets'

Air New Zealand will be the launch customer for 2.4m tall, fuel-saving wingtips that Airbus SAS is introducing on all its future A320-family jetliners, the European aircraft-maker announced today.

The first new wingtips will appear on Air New Zealand A320s by the end of 2012, followed by the first application on A321s six months later, then on A319s and, eventually, A318s, the Aviation International news website reported.

The vertical wingtips, which Airbus calls "sharklets," can save airlines up to 4.5 per cent in fuel costs for each plane, Airbus chief operating officer for customers, John Leahy, told a news conference at the Dubai Airshow.

Airbus executive vice-president of sales and marketing customer affairs, Dr Kiran Rao, said the sharklets required strengthening of the planes' wing boxes and would add some 200kg weight.

Computer modelling would allow Airbus to shed a corresponding amount of weight from both the wing structure and airframe, resulting in no weight penalty.

The sharklets would give a 498kg increase in payload or 203km in extra range - to 6204km in an A320 - faster time to climb and up to a 2 per cent reduction in engine maintenance costs.

Airbus estimated that the sharklets would save operators US$220,000 ($300,000) worth of fuel annually for each aircraft.

They are expected to allow for higher takeoff weights from obstacle-limited runways such as Wellington.

Where there is no constraint on runway length, operators will be able to use less takeoff thrust, potentially lowering noise levels, maintenance costs and carbon emissions.

Air New Zealand said earlier this month it was buying 14 new Airbus A320 aircraft to fly its domestic routes, replacing its ageing fleet of Boeing 737-300 jets.

Air NZ already flies a fleet of a dozen Airbus A320s across the Tasman and to the Pacific Islands.

- NZPA