Air New Zealand plans to fit blended winglets to 767 fleet

Airline Industry Information, Sept 24, 2008

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2008 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Air New Zealand has announced plans to fit blended winglets to its five Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, which operate to Australia, the Pacific Islands and Honolulu.

The aircraft will be progressively fitted with the winglets from July 2009. Air New Zealand Technical Operations will execute the work, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

The winglets are 3.4m high wing-tip devices that reduce drag near the wing tip, resulting in the aircraft using less fuel and having the ability to climb faster. The technology was developed by Aviation Partners Boeing, a joint venture of Aviation Partners Inc and The Boeing Company.

According to Air New Zealand it expects to reduce fuel consumption across the 767 fleet by approximately 1.6m barrels each year as a result of installing the winglets.

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