Gibraltar, 21 Oct 2013- WheelTug plc announced today the execution of a Slot Option Purchase Agreement with Volaris (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR) for Airbus A320 WheelTug Systems. With the new reservations the order book for WheelTug® aircraft drive systems grows to 731 delivery slots reserved by thirteen airlines from Europe, America, the Middle East and Asia.
Volaris is the leading Mexican ultra-low-cost airline and the country's second largest airline.
Current commercial aviation practice utilizes a tug for aircraft gate pushback, while forward taxi is powered by the aircraft's engines. The electric WheelTug unit drives the aircraft without using the engines.
In addition to lower ground operation fuel consumption, other benefits of the WheelTug® aircraft drive systems include: removal of the time and safety costs of the use of ground tugs, substantially reduced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, increased safety and flexibility of operations, faster turnaround times, reduced engine wear and repair costs, and decreased noise pollution. WheelTug estimates the total savings at over US$1.1 million per aircraft per year.
WheelTug Systems will be offered to the airlines entirely on a lease, or power-by-the-hour basis, so that the systems can be installed and operated on aircraft without any capital expenditure on the part of the airline whatsoever.
WheelTug plc successfully installed and tested the first in-wheel WheelTug in Prague in June 2012. Video from the tests is available at http://media.wheeltug.com .
About WheelTug plc
WheelTug plc is a Gibraltar Corporation. A full listing of WheelTug partner companies and airline customers is on the company's website at http://www.wheeltug.gi.
Forward-looking statement at http://www.wheeltug.gi/fls.shtml
CONTACT INFORMATION
Jan Vana, Director, WheelTug plc
+420 724 276 506, +1 410 419 0082
[email protected] www.wheeltug.gi
