Tag Archives: Sharklets

Volaris celebrates the delivery of its first Airbus A320 with Sharklets with a special flight

Volaris (Mexico City) on April 10 celebrated the delivery of its first Sharklet-equipped Airbus A320 with a special flight from Mexico City to Cancun. Volaris is the first Mexico-based operator of the new fuel-saving wing tip devices. This flight showcased the aircraft efficiency to official representatives from France, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom who were onboard and accompanied by Volaris and Airbus executives. The aircraft is powered by IAE engines.

The pictured Airbus A320-233 N519VL (msn 5510, ex D-AXAJ) was actually handed over to the carrier in March.

Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. They are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft and allow Airbus’ airline customers to reduce fuel burn up to four percent over longer sectors and reduce approximately 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions per aircraft per year. Sharklets offer operators the flexibility of either adding an additional 100 nautical miles range or increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.

Volaris has been the first carrier in Mexico to order the A320neo, with a purchase agreement for 44 aircraft, including 30 A320neo and 14 A320ceo. The airline, which has an all-Airbus fleet, currently operates 43 A320 Family aircraft and has a backlog of 48.

Volaris:

Vueling Airlines’ board accepts IAG latest raised bid, won’t be merged with Iberia

Vueling Airlines‘ (Barcelona) board of directors has approved the latest bid by the International Airlines Group (IAG) (London) after IAG raised its bid for the remaining shares by 32 percent to €9.25 a share.

IAG CEO Willie Walsh also stated Vueling Airlines will remain a separate carrier and will not be merged with the higher cost and troubled Iberia (Madrid).

Read the full report from Bloomberg: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss. Airbus A320-214 D-AXAS (msn 5533) with Sharklets at a snowy Hamburg (Finkenwerder) became EC-LVO when it was handed over on April 5.

Vueling Airlines:

Virgin America wants to fly to Hawaii

Virgin America‘s (San Francisco) CEO David Cush has stated the carrier would like to add new routes to Hawaii starting in 2015 when it has a sufficient number of new Airbus A320s with Sharklets. This will be the first use of A320s to the islands although Hawaiian Airlines (Honolulu) will be using new Airbus A321s from Hawaii to the Mainland.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss. The pictured Airbus A320-214 WL D-AXAL (N361VA) (msn 5515) is the first Virgin America A320 with Sharklets.

Virgin America:

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Virgin America arrives in Newark, will name the first Airbus A320 with “Sharklets” as “Jersey Girl”

Virgin America (San Francisco) yesterday (April 9) celebrated the launch of its new service to Newark, New Jersey – the 20th destination in the carrier’s growing network. The carrier is serving Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) with three daily nonstop flights from both Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

Late last month, the airline named the 53^rd member of its fleet in honor of the Garden State after inviting social audiences to show their “New Jersey” pride by submitting a name. The winning name, “Jersey Girl,” will grace the nose of the first aircraft in Virgin America’s fleet to be outfitted with Airbus’s new “Sharklet” technology, which promises to be one of the most fuel-efficient aircraft in the nation once she takes to the skies later this month.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss. The pictured Airbus A320-214 WL D-AXAL was handed over to the carrier as N361VA (msn 5515) on March 19 through a lease with AerCap. It is the first Virgin American A320 with Sharklets and will be named “Jersey Girl” in honor of the new service to Newark.

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Virgin America:

Airberlin Group takes delivery of the first Airbus A320 with Sharklets

Airberlin Group (Berlin) on March 26 took delivery of its first Airbus A320 with the new Sharklets wing tip device. The pictured A320-214 OE-LER (msn 5522) will be operated by Niki (Vienna).

The group issued this statement:

OE-LER, welcome to our fleet! The Airberlin Group became one of the first airlines in the world to receive its very first Airbus A320 equipped with fuel-saving Sharklets at the Airbus factory in Hamburg on March 26, 2013. The development sees the company further strengthen its position as Europe’s most eco-efficient network carrier.

The aircraft with the Airbus manufacturer’s serial number msn 5522 will fly under the registration OE-LER for the airline Niki, which belongs to the Airberlin Group. Following test flights and extensive technical checks, the transfer of title of the aircraft to the Airberlin Group took place on March 25 before the March 26 ferry flight from Hamburg to Vienna, the home of Niki.

Commenting on the delivery, Ulf Hüttmeyer, Chief Financial Officer airberlin, said: “The new Airbus is the first of a total of 14 Airbus A320/A321 aircraft with the fuel-saving wingtips to be delivered to the Airberlin Group. The Sharklets represent an important aspect of our ‘Eco-Efficient Flying’ program and will contribute towards making the Airberlin and Niki fleet even more efficient and environmentally compatible in future. The delivery of the first Airbus with Sharklets to Niki is part of a sales and lease back transaction between our company and the Chinese leasing company ICBC Financial Leasing with which we have already been working together successfully and reliably for several years in the area of aircraft financing.”

As part of the sales and lease back cooperation arrangement with ICBC Financial Leasing, the Airberlin Group is to add another Airbus A320 with Sharklets to its fleet in June of this year.

The two-and-a-half meter large upward wingtip extensions reduce air vortices at the wings and hence the lift-induced drag. The eye-catching Sharklets developed by Airbus thereby significantly improve the wing aerodynamics and are capable of saving around 1,200 tonnes of CO2 emissions with fuel savings of up to 3.5% per aircraft each year. This represents 55 flights from Berlin to Palma de Mallorca per aircraft every year. Sharklets work according to a functional principle by which the improved lift effect also enables the Airbus equipped with Sharklets to ascend more quickly. This in turn reduces noise on the ground.

Airberlin:

Niki:

Vueling Airlines accepts its first Airbus A320 with Sharklets

Vueling Airlines (Vueling.com) (Barcelona) has taken delivery of its first A320 aircraft equipped with Sharklet fuel saving wing tip devices, becoming the first Spanish carrier to do so. Including this delivery, Vueling’s in-service fleet rises to 61 A320 Family aircraft

Sharklets are newly designed wing-tip devices that improve the aircraft’s aerodynamics and significantly cut the airline’s fuel burn and emissions by four per cent on longer sectors. Sharklets are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft, and standard on all members of the NEO Family. They offer the 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.

Vueling Airlines:

Swiss takes delivery of its first first Airbus A320 with Sharklets

Swiss International Air Lines (Zurich) on March 20 received from Airbus its first new A320 with Sharklets. Sharklets are newly designed wing-tip devices that improve the aircraft’s aerodynamics and significantly cut the airline’s fuel burn and emissions by four percent on longer sectors.

Swiss:

Wizz Air Ukraine takes delivery of its first Airbus A320 with Sharklets

Wizz Air Ukraine (Wizz Air Ukraine Airlines) (Kiev) has taken delivery of an Airbus A320 aircraft equipped with Sharklet fuel saving wing tip devices, becoming the first Ukrainian carrier to do so. Sharklets are newly designed wing-tip devices that improve the aircraft’s aerodynamics and significantly cut the airline’s fuel burn and emissions by four per cent on longer sectors.

Sharklets are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft, and standard on all members of the NEO Family. They offer the 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.

Wizz Air Ukraine is the only low-fare, low-cost airline serving the Ukrainian market and will operate a fleet of 4 Airbus A320 aircraft from 5 airports in Ukraine to 19 destinations in 10 countries by summer 2013.

Top Copyright Photo: Eurospot. The pictured Airbus A320-232 with Sharklets with the temporary test marks of F-WWDS was handed over to the carrier as UR-WUC (msn 5539) on March 15.

Bottom Copyright Photo: Airbus. Another view of F-WWDS (UR-WUC).

Wizz Air (Ukraine):

Routes from Kiev:

Monarch Airlines becomes the first UK airline to operate Airbus A320 with Sharklets

Monarch Airlines (flymonarch.com) (London-Luton) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320 equipped with fuel saving wing tip devices, called Sharklets, becoming the first UK carrier to benefit from them.

Sharklets are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft, and standard on all members of the A320neo Family. The new wing tip devices measure 2.4 meters tall, replacing the A320’s current wing tip fence. They offer the flexibility to A320 Family operators of either adding around 100 nautical miles more range or an increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.

Copyright Photo:Eurospot. The pictured Airbus A320-214 F-WWBZ (msn 5526) was handed over to Monarch Airlines as G-ZBAA on March 14.

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Monarch Airlines:

Lufthansa becomes the first European carrier to take delivery of an Airbus A320 with Sharklets

Lufthansa (Frankfurt) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320 equipped with Sharklets at the Airbus site in Hamburg (Finkenwerder), Germany. Lufthansa is becoming the first carrier in Europe to take benefit of the new fuel-saving wing-tip devices. The airline will receive 21 more A320 Family aircraft equipped with Sharklets until 2015.

A320-214 D-AIZP (msn 5487) was handed over to the carrier yesterday (March 1).

Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. They are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft and standard on all members of the new A320neo family. They offer operators up to four percent fuelburn reduction on longer range sectors and provide the flexibility of either adding an additional 100 nautical miles range or increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.

Top and Bottom Copyright Photos: Airbus. Sister aircraft A320-214 D-AXAE (msn 5497) will become D-AIZQ on delivery and will become the second with Sharklets for LH.

Lufthansa: