Wing Tip configurations on the A320 family Aircraft – THE AVIATION

Wing Tip configurations on the A320 family Aircraft

Let’s see the A320 Family Wing Tip evolution in a nutshell and I am going to start by mentioning that there are four possible Wing Tip configurations on the A320 family: 

In 1988, when Airbus released the A320, it had no winglets, and neither did many airplanes that were produced during that time, therefore, it was fitted with just a bland wing, such as the one fitted on the A320-100 series.

The A320-200 series came with the well-known small arrow-shaped wing tip fence (which, to the best of my knowledge, its geometry was modified a couple of times).

Airbus continued trying various wing tip modifications to improve aerodynamic efficiency and reduce fuel burn. As a result, Airbus eventually ended up designing the “Sharklet”, which was offered as a retrofit to more than 4000 candidates for the in-service fleet. Additionally, since 2013, virtually all A320Ceo were delivered with CEO sharklet installed.

In 2016, the NEO program introduced a new sharklet device standard called NEO sharklet, compatible with the A320Ceo, and, since then, all A320Neo and A320Ceo coming from the Final Line Assembly are fitted with NEO sharklet. Consequently, the worldwide in-service fleet is a mix of A320Ceo fitted with CEO sharklet (if the aircraft was manufactured before 2016) and A320Ceo fitted with NEO sharklet (if it was manufactured after 2016). 

An easy way to identify them is to see the Glazing design of the strobe or navigation lights (NEO sharklet has a removable lens strip assembly to remove the glazing if required).