Air New Zealand says winglets will enable fuel savings to take off

Air New Zealand says a new fuel-saving wing device installed on its passenger jets is expected to save the airline more than seven million litres of aviation fuel annually – 19 per cent more than originally anticipated.

Developed by Aviation Partners Boeing, the 3.4m devices – called blended winglets – are installed on the end of airplane wings, where they help to reduce wing tip drag, resulting in lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

The airline installed winglets on four of its Boeing 767-300ER jets in July, with the hope of cutting annual fuel consumption by six million litres. However, Air New Zealand said that early indications are that the results have been better than expected and the company now expects to save more than seven million litres a year – equavilent to 18,400 tonnes in annual carbon emissions.

A fifth Boeing 767-300ER aircraft is being fitted with winglets in Hong Kong at a cost of NZ$4m (US$3m, £1.8m) and will return to service next month, according to the airline. There were no immediate plans to install winglets on other aircraft in its fleet.

"The installation of the blended winglets is part of Air New Zealand's ongoing drive to be the world's most environmentally sustainable airline," David Morgan, the company's general manager of airline operations, said last week. "Our approach is constantly evolving as we continue to evaluate our operations and identify new opportunities and new technologies."

The carrier last year conducted the world's first flight of a commercial airliner running on a jatropha-based biofuel. It is working to have the fuel certified for passenger jets within the next few years.