Turkish Airlines completes first sharklet retrofit

Turkish Airlines has completed the installation of its first production-retrofitted Sharklet wingtip devices.

The installation 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 4%, 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.