Airbus Advances Wing of Tomorrow with New Flight Test Programme

Airbus has launched a new flight test programme for its Wing of Tomorrow initiative, advancing research into high-aspect-ratio wings for the next generation of single-aisle aircraft.

Over the next three years, the manufacturer will design, build and test full-scale wing extensions on an Airbus A321neo. The several-metre-long extensions will simulate the performance of longer folding wings in flight, allowing engineers to evaluate aerodynamic efficiency, aircraft handling and structural behaviour under real operating conditions.

The programme is intended to validate technologies that could improve fuel efficiency through longer, lighter and more aerodynamically efficient wings. Airbus will use the flight data to refine future aircraft designs and reduce development risk before introducing next-generation single-aisle platforms.

The wing extensions will be assembled at Airbus’ Wing Technology Development Centre in the UK before flight testing in Toulouse. Since its launch in 2014, the Wing of Tomorrow programme has received £227 million in funding through the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute programme and has already produced three full-scale ground-based wing demonstrators.