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| British Airways Airbus A320(S) |
International Airlines Group (IAG) parent company of British Airways, Iberia Express and Vueling Airlines whom operate services from London Heathrow, Madrid and Barcelona respectively, commenced using fuel-saving and performance-enhancing Sharklets on A320 Family airliners becoming an increasingly frequent sight in Irish skies.
British Airways operates A320 Family equipment on eight times daily Heathrow to Dublin services and since April when Sharklet modification programme commenced a number of flights have been operated by A320’s with the wing-tip modification.
The modification initially involves 10 of the newest A320s in the airline’s fleet in sequence G-EUYO, G-EUYP and G-EUYR to G-EUYY, with ‘sharklet’ wing-tips under a fuel-efficiency programme.
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| Iberia Express Airbus A320(S) |
Iberia Express commenced in November 2014 installation of the sharklets on four Airbus A320’s delivered in 2013 . The carrier deploys sharklet fitted aircraft longest routes to Canary Islands and Northern Europe, where the savings achieved by the sharklets are optimized.
Spanish carrier Vueling, the low cost platform for International Airlines Group (IAG) in 2013 became the first Spanish carrier to take delivery of new A320’s fitted with Sharklets as part of IAG order of up to 220 aircraft in August 2013.
The Sharklet modification reinforces the wing structure and adding the Sharklet wingtip device. As part of the upgrade, the retrofit will lengthen the aircraft’s service life and thus maximize the operators’ return on investment for the Sharklet retrofit.
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| Vueling Airlines Airbus A320(S) |
The wing-tip devices improve the aircraft’s aerodynamics and significantly cut the airline’s fuel burn (saving 200,000 kg of fuel per aircraft per year) and emissions by four per cent on longer sectors (over 900 tonnes of CO2 per year, per aircraft), offering flexibility to A320 Family operators of either adding around 100 nautical miles more range or allowing an increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms
Sharklet are offered by Airbus as an option on new-build A320ceo Family aircraft, and they are standard on A320neo (new engine option) Family from October 2015.
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 23rd June 2015 All Rights Reserved.
