Alpha Star Aviation Services of Saudi Arabia has become the first Airbus ACJ320 customer for an in-service retrofit of Sharklets, upswept fins attached to the wingtips that save about 4 per cent in fuel consumption while also enhancing performance and appearance. It is also the first Middle East customer for the in-service retrofit of Sharklets on an Airbus corporate jet.

Alpha Star plans to fit Sharklets to an Airbus ACJ320 that is already in operation, during 2016. The in-service retrofit comprises local structural reinforcement of the outer wing, a software upgrade to several flight-control computers, and replacement of the existing wingtips by Sharklets.

It is also the first Saudi Arabian corporate jet customer for FlySmart, Airbus’ performppance calculation software for ipad. Flysmart can improve payload by a tonne on challenging missions, via more precise take-off performance calculation, and delivers more consistent results in degraded conditions, such as when landing on contaminated runways.

“We pride ourselves on having a modern and efficient fleet, and adding Sharklets to our Airbus ACJ320 and adopting FlySmart will help us to keep it that way, as well as improving our day to day operations,” says Alpha Star Chief Executive Officer Salem Al Muzaini. “Adding Sharklets to our Airbus corporate jet also helps us to preserve the value of our investment in the longer term, and they pay for themselves relatively quickly through the savings that they deliver,” he adds.

Airbus press release