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Sun Country Airlines Orders 7 Aviation Partners Boeing 737-800 Blended Winglet Shipsets

Posted on: Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

SEATTLE, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines will retrofit 7 Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft with Aviation Partners Boeing patented* Blended Winglets over the next 5 months. All aircraft are leased equipment owned by ILFC and CIT. Retrofit installations will be accomplished at Evergreen Air Center in Arizona and FlightCraft in Kelowna, British Columbia.

"We welcome Sun Country Airlines to the rapidly growing family of Blended Winglet Performance Enhanced operators who are saving fuel, increasing performance and reducing environmental impact on 6 continents," says Aviation Partners Boeing CEO and President John Reimers. "Over the past 12 months more and more retrofit Blended Winglet Systems are being purchased by leasing companies and we expect this trend to continue."

Sun Country will save up to 5% on block fuel costs for scheduled and charter services. Markets such as Anchorage (2181 nm), San Juan (2089 nm) and Acapulco (1719 nm) will see particularly large savings. Meanwhile, improved takeoff performance resulting in reduced power will help reduce engine maintenance costs by keeping engines on-wing longer before removal for overhaul is necessary.

"Blended Winglet environmental benefits are very important to Sun Country Airlines. With Blended Winglets, the takeoff noise footprint can be reduced by 6.5% along with reductions in carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide emissions of 4% and 5%," says Aviation Partners Sales Director Troy Brekken. "When all 7 of their 737NG's have been retrofitted, Sun Country will see savings of about 840,000 gallons of fuel per year, directly resulting in reduced emissions as well as fuel cost savings."

With fuel prices as high as they are today, the business case for Blended Winglets becomes more compelling than ever. Operators that lease airplanes and Blended Winglets realize an immediate positive cash flow benefit. And Blended Winglets also increase residual value of the asset for lessors, creating a win-win situation.

Aviation Partners Boeing, a joint venture between Seattle-based Aviation Partners Inc. and The Boeing Company, has sold over 2000 Blended Winglet Shipsets. More than half of the world fleet of Boeing 737-700's/800's has been upgraded with Blended Winglets and over 85% of all new 737-700's/800's enter revenue service already equipped with this Performance Enhancing Technology.

http://www.aviationpartnersboeing.com/ Patent No. 5348253

Aviation Partners Boeing

CONTACT: Dick Friel of Aviation Partners Boeing, +1-206-762-1171

Web site: http://www.aviationpartnersboeing.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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