Aviation Partners is enjoying increasing interest in its various winglet upgrades as it grows its in-service retrofit programs.
It offers its Split Scimitar Winglet (SSW) retrofit for the Boeing BBJ along with its Blended Winglet retrofit for Dassault’s Falcon 900, 2000 and 50 families as well as the Hawker 800 series.
“The last few months have seen a marked increase in inquiries, and commitments, for our various business jet Winglet products,” says Aviation Partners’ vice president of sales and marketing. Gary Dunn. As such, early planning is the key for anyone seeking an installation in the first half of 2017.”
Eight BBJs are now in service with SSWs and several more installations are planned for the first quarter of next year, says Aviation Partners. The SSW is now standard on all new-delivery Boeing 737 NG BBJs and it is approved by the USA and Europe for retrofit on all in-service BBJ, BBJ 2 and BBJ 3 aircraft.
Aviation Partners says that the SSW retrofit enables at least a 2% increase in range over the existing Blended Winglet configuration. “This essentially gives a seven-auxiliary-tank BBJ the range of an eight-auxiliary-tank airplane,” it adds.
The retrofit can be carried out during the “green” completion process as well as during interior refurbishment, routine maintenance, or as a standalone installation.
This article first appeared in Flight Global on December 5, 2016.
