Major business could be heading in the direction of the Airbus operation in Filton which is responsible for developing "sharklet" wingtips – the key to improved performance on the new, best selling A320neo 150-seat airliner.
The European planemaker is reported to be planning to offer large winglet retrofits on the entire operational A320-family of aircraft following pressure from US carrier JetBlue Airways. The American airline has already ordered sharklet-equipped A320s from 2013.
Sharklets are designed to deliver a reduction of about 1% in fuel burn on 500nm (925km) sectors and up to 3.5% on flights of 3,000nm.
Flight International reports that Airbus will produce sharklet-equipped aircraft next year. It says the aircraft builder is so "encouraged" by response to sharklets that it has "decided to pursue" a retrofit for in-service A320s – although it has yet to decide whether to develop the winglets in-house or externally. "We are evaluating the technical, operational and business aspects," it said.
US Airways flight training managing director Bob Skinner described winglet retrofit requirements for the A320 as "extensive" earlier this year.
JetBlue said it is still waiting for "slightly more information" from Airbus regarding "exactly what the final solution is, and what the availability of the kits will be".
Elsewhere Malaysian-based budget airline AirAsia has decided to invest in a further 100 Airbus A320neo jets, taking its record-breaking order for 200 at the Paris Air Show to 300 planes. The additional order takes the list price of the contract to a massive $27bn.
It also underlines Airbus' growing lead over Boeing. Reuters reports that analysts expect the extended order to drive AirAsia's expansion as it competes with carriers such as India's IndiGo, Singapore's Tiger Airways and Australia's Jetstar.
