Boeing Business Jets has agreed to offer the newly-certified Aviation Partners, Inc. (API) Split Scimitar Winglets as standard equipment aboard the BBJ. API secured U.S. FAA certification of the Split-Scimitar design on the BBJ on April 21 and anticipates European Aviation Safety Agency approval shortly.

Certification followed a flight-test program lasting almost four months using a BBJ that had the winglets added at PATS Aircraft Systems in Georgetown. The winglets include a Scimitar-tipped ventral strake along with the existing blended winglet. The design reduces drag, increasing payload and or range. On long-range flights, range improves by about two percent over the current Blended Winglet configuration.

“The upgrade will essentially give a BBJ with seven [auxiliary] tanks the range of an eight aux tank airplane,” said Gary Dunn, API vice president of sales and marketing.

Beyond the performance improvements, Boeing Business Jets president David Longridge said two reasons drove the decision to make them standard on the BBJ. “One, API’s track record is unparalleled. Also, a number of airlines have bought these winglets. That’s the acid test.”

API has received approval on the 737-700, -800 and -900 series over the past three years and already has accrued an order book for installation on 1,700 aircraft, about 500 of which have already been upgraded. API chairman and CEO Joe Clarke estimated a market for 5,000 of the winglets.

“We are already seeing huge interest in the Split Scimitar Winglets from the BBJ community,” said Dunn.

The original BBJ is the last of the current BBJ family to receive certification with the new winglets, approval for the BBJ 2 and BBJ 3 coming earlier with the certification of the Boeing 737-800 and -900 series.

For new airplanes, the winglets will be installed at PATS, where auxiliary tanks are added to the BBJ already. The winglets can be retrofitted on the fleet at approved installation facilities.

The retrofit builds on the existing blended winglet, which involves beefing up the internal structure, adding the ventral strake and replacing the aluminum winglet tip caps with Scimitar tip caps.

The use of the existing winglet structure reduces costs, Clarke said, noting the retrofit will cost between $550,000-$575,000. Without existing winglets the cost would be almost double that. The retrofit takes about four days, he said.

The first in-service BBJ equipped with the winglets is on display here in the EBACE static display.