Turkish Airlines will become the first European airline to operate A320 Family aircraft with production-retrofitted Sharklet wingtip devices. This will follow the installation, which has just been completed, by Turkish Technic MRO of Sharklets onto the first of nine A321s to be retrofitted for Turkish Airlines. All nine aircraft will be upgraded for the airline in Istanbul in the coming weeks.

Thanks to this aerodynamic upgrade, every Turkish Airlines’ retrofitted aircraft will benefit from a reduction in fuel costs by up to four per cent, an annual 900t reduction in CO₂ emissions and an increased mission range by up to 100 nautical miles.

Airbus has been delivering Sharklets as an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft since December 2012. The Sharklet “production-retrofit” option is being offered for newer aircraft delivered with the latest production standard of wings which are already capable of being fitted with Sharklets without any additional structural reinforcements.

In addition the production-retrofit solution, Airbus has also recently launched the “in-service retrofit” programme – which allows Sharklets to be fitted for airlines currently flying older A320s which have the previous design of wing structure. The ‘in-service retrofit’ solution therefore includes a reinforcement of the wing structure and will be available for operators in 2015.

Since its launch in 1984, the A320 Family has continued to evolve with the demands of the market, with the latest innovations being the A320neo and the Sharklets efficient wing tip devices.

The A320 Family is the world’s best-selling and most modern single aisle aircraft Family. To date, over 10,000 A320 Family aircraft have been ordered and over 5800 delivered to more than 390 customers and operators worldwide. With proven reliability and extended servicing periods, the A320 Family has the lowest operating costs of any single-aisle aircraft.

Source: Airbus