After revealing a few weeks ago that Airbus had completed testing and certification of their Sharklet equipped A320 aircraft operating with CFM engines, it appears the first delivery has gone out to Air Asia.
The first delivered A320 with Sharklets for Air Asia – Image – Airbus SAS
Detail shot of the Sharklet with the tailfin. Image – Airbus SAS.
Sharklets are an option of all new build Airbus A320’s, and will be standard on the upcoming Airbus A320NEO. They stand a a rather high 2.4 meters tall, made from composites.
Airbus estimate that these sharklets will cut fuel consumpsion by 4% – and over a lifetime of a plane, that’s a lot of money in fuel. In addtion the modification will allow a range increase of 100 Nautical Miles or an extra payload capacity pf 450kg .
These little actions all add up.
Air Asia is a very big A320 customer with a total order list so far of 475 aircraft, with over 100 delivered to the airline.
Expect to see sharklets on A319’s and A321’s soon….
[…] Asia now has A320s with ‘sharklets.’ I had never heard of sharklets, I like the sound of it. (Ghetto […]