Airbus pursues broad ambitions with its Wing of Tomorrow

Airbus is immersed in a crucial research project to examine in depth the efficiency benefits of broad and slender wings as it prepares to develop a successor to its bestselling A320neo. While the quest for lower fuel-burn tends to centre on the engines, the UK-led Wing of Tomorrow programme is looking at the equally significant contribution from new wing structures and technologies. But design is only part of the equation – it also needs to examine whether these future wing concepts can be built at the rates demanded by the single-aisle market. As the programme reaches a pivotal point, with the ground-based research evolving towards flight-testing, FlightGlobal Focus explores its progress and objectives, as well as the obstacles Airbus needs to confront in this critical engineering effort.