As he spoke, Cebu Pacific, the Philippines’ largest low-cost carrier, was unveiling the new technology that the European plane maker has built into its latest range of passenger aircraft.
“In Asia, people are very interested in new technology always, which is a key driver in the success of the company,” said Jean Francois Laval, Airbus senior vice president for sales, Asia. He was speaking at the sidelines of the launching of Cebu Pacific’s first A320 aircraft that features “sharklets,” a wingtip innovation which Airbus says improves the plane’s fuel efficiency.
Laval added that Asia is growing and is a key element of Airbus’ strategy in this part of the world, adding that his company will continue to develop relationships with Asian carriers as well as with carriers in all the regions.
“It is very important for us to be present in this region. We’ve been present in this region for many, many years and it is important for us to continue.”
Airbus is both used by Cebu Pacific and the country’s flag carrier, Philippine Airlines.
In its forecast, Airbus sees a market for 28,200 aircraft in Asia in the next 20 years as the region grows, and raised its single-aisle aircraft market forecast 1.6 percent to 19,500 planes.
Single-aisle jets will make up 69 percent of the market, while wide-body jets will constitute 25 percent, Airbus predicted.
Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific president and CEO, Lance Gokongwei, who presided over the inauguration of the first and only Philippine carrier to operate the latest version of the fuel-efficient A320 family plane, said the brand-new aircraft “ushers in their fleet expansion for the rest of 2013.”
Sharklets, newly designed wingtip devices that allow airlines to reduce fuel burn by up to 4 percent on longer sectors, are the latest featrure added to the new Airbus models.
Gokongwei said that as an example of the fuel-saving property of the sharklets, a flight to Bangkok that would normally consume 8,000 liters of fuel per hour would be able to save about 300 liters one way with the help of the wingtip innovation.
The sharklet, which is called “winglet” by Airbus’ US rival Boeing, is 2.4 meters or about eight feet tall, which helps reduce drag and enables airplanes to consume less fuel, give off lower emissions and increase its range.
“Starting tomorrow (Tuesday), we will be the first Philippine carrier and the second airline in the world to operate sharklet-equipped Airbus aircraft,” Gokongwei said.
He added that it is the first of the seven sharklet-equipped A320 aircraft the company will receive this year.
Laval said that Airbus is now working to retrofit or adopt the sharklets to existing airplanes.
“Yes, you’re right. We are now working on the retrofit program so that next year we expect to begin retrofitting existing aircraft with sharklets,” he replied to a query about whether aircraft’s straight wingtips could be twisted like sharklets.
“Cebu Pacific continues to have one of the most modern aircraft fleets in the world, which helps keep our fares the lowest in the market, in all destinations we operate,” Gokongwei said.
The A320 family is the world’s best-selling and most modern single-aisle aircraft, of which more than 9,000 have been ordered and over 5,400 delivered to more than 380 customers wordwide, according to Airbus.
Story: http://www.malaya.com.ph
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