Las Vegas, October 21, 2013… On the eve of the 2013 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition Aviation Partners, Inc. (API) announced that its unique Blended Winglet Technology will have saved the worlds commercial and business aircraft operators an estimated four billion gallons of jet fuel by year end. This represents a global reduction in CO2 emissions of almost 43 million tons. Aviation Partners’ Winglets are now flying on more than 5,400 individual airplanes, and more than 20 airplane types worldwide.
API’s Blended Winglets are an addition to the airplane wing tip that efficiently adds effective wingspan. The Winglets reduce the drag caused by wingtip vortices, the twin tornados formed by the difference between the pressure on the upper surface of an airplane’s wing and that on the lower surface. By reducing drag Blended Winglets increase fuel efficiency and boost range. The Blended Winglets, which feature a large radius and smooth chord variation in the wing-towinglet transition area, have demonstrated more than 60% greater effectiveness over conventional winglets with an angular transition.
One of the unique features of API’s technology is that it can be installed during production or retrofitted to existing (i.e. in-service) aircraft. API has Blended Winglets certified and in service on the Gulfstream II, Hawker 800 series, and Falcon 2000, 900 & 50 series aircraft. API’s joint venture with The Boeing Company, Aviation Partners Boeing (APB), has Blended Winglets certified and in-service on the Boeing 737-300, -500, -700, -800 & -900, 757-200 & -300 and 767-300ER/F series aircraft. Both companies have additional airframe development programs, including the recently announced Split Scimitar™ Winglets, in-work which will lead to an even greater rate of fuel savings and CO2 emissions reduction.
“Aviation Partners expects the amount of fuel saved to grow exponentially to more than seven billion gallons in the next 4-5 years.” Joe Clark, founder and CEO of API, and Chairman of APB, said, “We are proud to be the world leader in the field of fuel savings for the airlines and private aviation,” adding, “Anytime you can improve the productivity and performance of an existing asset, while making it more eco-friendly, is a wise investment.”
Visit the API booth (C8114) at the Las Vegas Convention Center during NBAA to see the Blended Winglet global fuel savings counter in real time, or fly to www.aviationpartners.com for additional information.
Aviation Partners, Inc. Seattle, Washington based Aviation Partners, Inc. (API) is the world leader in advanced Winglet technology. API’s patented Performance Enhancing Blended Winglets™ have been designed and certified for a number of commercial and business aircraft; applications include Boeing, Falcon, Hawker and Gulfstream airframes. Over 5,400 in-service aircraft have saved an estimated 3.9 billion gallons of fuel. In addition to the 5-7% improvement in fuel burn, Blended Winglets have reduced global CO2 emissions by almost 42 million tons. Additional airframe programs are in-development for existing Blended Winglet technology, and future Winglet designs will lead to greater incremental improvements in performance, fuel savings and emissions reduction.
For further information:
Gary Dunn, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
+1-206-310-2904, gdunn@winglets.com
