AEROSTAR OF ROMANIA INSTALLS SPLIT SCIMITAR WINGLETS ON TUIFLY NORDIC BOEING 737-800s

Aerostar S.A. – the leading Romanian aerospace company – has become one of the first independent European MRO organisations to install Split Scimitar Winglets on Boeing 737-800s at its Bacau facility.

The installations were carried out on two aircraft belonging to TUIFly Nordic of Sweden – another new customer for Aerostar’s growing commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business.

The first aircraft, a Boeing 737-8K5 (WL), bearing registration SE- RFU, arrived at Bacau in early May for a Base Maintenance Check. At the end of the check, the aircraft – which had already had its wings reinforced ready for the installation – was fitted with the new Split Scimitar Winglets.

It was followed by the second aircraft , a Boeing 737-86N (WL), bearing registration SE-RFV, that was subject to a Base Maintenance Check along with the embodiment of the complete Split Scimitar Winglet installation; provisioning (wing structure reinforcement) and installation of the upgraded winglets. The complete installation was carried out in six days and had no impact on the maintenance check downtime.

Ovidiu Buhai, Director Aviation MRO and Upgrades Division for Aerostar stated:

“We are very proud that Aerostar was chosen by an airline within TUI Travel to be one of the first European independent MRO facilities to install these revolutionary Split Scimitar Winglets in Europe and it serves to emphasise the company’s growing capability and reputation.

“We have a long-standing relationship with airlines belonging to TUI Travel, having carried out a number of heavy maintenance checks on the Belgian carrier JetAirfly’s Boeing 737s in recent years. We are delighted to welcome Swedish-based TUIFly Nordic as a new customer.”

TUI Travel PLC is the European launch customer for the Split Scimitar Winglets and placed an order with Aviation Partners Boeing in July 2013 for the fuel- and emissions-saving winglet. TUI Travel was also the first customer to commercially fly Blended Winglets on its Boeing 737 Next Generation fleet.

The Split Scimitar Winglet was the culmination of a five-year design effort by Aviation Partners Boeing using the latest computational fluid dynamic technology to redefine the aerodynamics of the Blended Winglet into an all new Split Scimitar Winglet.

The unique feature of the Split Scimitar Winglet is that it uses the existing Blended Winglet structure, but adds new strengthened spars, aerodynamic scimitar tips and a large ventral fin. This advanced technology winglet is the ultimate winglet in terms of performance, without increasing the existing wing span.