We’ve spoken about the benefits of retro-fitting winglets on aircraft before. Now, Aviation Partners Boeing, the makers of winglet devices for the Boeing 737, 757 and 767 have announced just how much these devices can save – as of tomorrow, March 5 at 19:05 in Seattle, blended winglets will have saved the world’s airlines 2 [...]

Air New Zealand’s recent order of A320 aircraft to replace its domestic jet fleet is going to come with a little something extra – sharklets! These are an extension to the current Airbus A320 wingtips that will increase efficiency and reduce fuel use by a whopping 3.5% (or around 700 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft, [...]

  ATW’s Eco-Aviation Today reports that Air New Zealand has made even greater fuel (and therefore emissions) savings than anticipated on its 767 aircraft that have been fitted with new winglets (famously called "sexy" additions to the aircraft). These upturned extensions to the wing increase aerodynamics and therefore increase fuel efficiency. As Captain Dave Morgan, [...]

A number of months ago, I made a comment about how some winglets could be considered ‘sexy’ and showed a sketch of a different type of winglet being looked at – known as spiroid winglets. Little did I know that they have actually been tested in flight – apparently in 2001. Visiting the EBACE event [...]

This Airbus A320 aircraft flew last month with a new addition. While the aircraft might not look too different from an ordinary A320 at first glance, the observant among you will notice the presence of winglets on this narrowbody jet. A320′s normally have small ‘wingtip fences’, but the winglets on this testbed aircraft are a [...]

Airlines are increasingly seeing the benefits of retro-fitting older aircraft with new technologies available that help save fuel and reduce emissions. Partially, this is because of the high oil price suddenly making the return on investment period a lot shorter, but it also reflects the new emphasis within a lot of airlines on operating greener [...]