Arrival of New Winglets in New Zealand

Media Release
13 July 2009

Arrival of New Winglets in New Zealand

Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 767-300ER aircraft fitted with new blended winglets is due to land at Auckland International Airport this morning

The airline estimates that it will save more than six million litres of fuel and 16,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually with the installation of the new performance-enhancing blended winglets on its fleet of Boeing 767 aircraft.

The blended winglets, which have been developed by Aviation Partners Boeing, are 3.4 metre high wing-tip devices. They make the aircraft’s wing more efficient by reducing drag, increasing lift and significantly improving fuel use and reducing emissions.

Air New Zealand General Manager Airline Operations Captain David Morgan said the installation of the blended winglets are part of Air New Zealand’s on-going drive to be the world’s most environmentally sustainable airline.

“Air New Zealand has been at the forefront of finding ways to minimise our environmental impact, examining every aspect of our flight operations to reduce carbon emissions by saving fuel. “

In addition to significant fuel savings and reduction in carbon emissions, the blended winglets provide additional commercial benefits for aircraft operating services on longer sectors including enabling the aircraft to climb faster and improving payload performance.

“In parallel we’ve also begun installing Zonal Dryers on our 767 fleet with this aircraft the first to have the system installed,” says Captain Morgan.

The electrically-powered dryers, designed by CTT Systems in Sweden, reduce moisture trapped in the insulation between the aircraft’s outer-skin and the cabin lining. They will remove around 200kgs of water from each aircraft, reducing weight, fuel consumption and most importantly reducing carbon emissions.

Each passenger exhales around 100 grams of water an hour and the cold outside temperatures at altitude generate significant condensation which is retained in the aircraft insulation.

“Through this environmental initiative we estimate the zonal dryers will save an additional 320,000 litres of fuel and 800 tonnes of carbon emissions annually across the fleet of five 767 aircraft,” says Captain Morgan.

ENDS

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