Article Posted on : - Mar 31, 2015

The new C295W transport plane. An Airbus Military photo

SEVILLE, SPAIN (BNS): Airbus Military's C295W military transport aircraft equipped with winglets and enhanced engine settings has been delivered to the Mexican Navy, making it the launch customer for the new, improved airlifter.

"Thanks to the winglets, the C295W will be able to transport more payload to a longer distance with around a 4% fuel savings, even in hot and high conditions.

"The Mexican Navy has specified the winglets for two C295s, for which the order was already announced, and winglets will be standard for all new C295s ordered from now on," Airbus announced on Monday.

"The advantage of the winglets in hot and high conditions means that the development of the C295W is a key step for our highly successful light and medium transport family. And it is a particular pleasure to deliver this first aircraft to Mexico, which already has the biggest Airbus Defence and Space transport fleet in Latin America," said Antonio Rodríguez Barberán, Head of Commercial for Airbus Defence and Space in Latin America.

"The C295 has served us well for many years. We had some concerns about operating a mixed fleet of aircraft with and without winglets, but when we studied the enhanced performance of this new version it was clear that it would bring very significant operating benefits for us that could not be ignored," said Rear Admiral from Mexican Navy, José María García Macedo.

Airbus Military had unveiled the new C295W -- the W standing for winglets -- in May 2013 as an improved variant of its C295 medium-lift twin-engine turboprop military transport aircraft.

The Mexican Navy is already operating four C295 aircraft.