Honeywell will provide its 131-9A Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) to Air China, Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines in agreements valued at more than $140 million combined.

Honeywell announced it will provide the APUs for Air China’s new A320 aircraft deliveries and will administer an exclusive supply agreement for APUs on 141 Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Honeywell will also provide the APUs and a 10-year maintenance program to Hainan Airlines of China for 13 new Airbus A320 aircraft, and to China Southern Airlines for new Airbus A320 and Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft, as well as supply APU materials, spares and service on existing China Southern aircraft.

“Honeywell’s APU is averaging more than 10,000 hours between unscheduled repair events, a more than 60 percent improvement over other APUs in its class size,” said Mike Madsen, Vice President, Airlines, Honeywell Aerospace. Honeywell’s on-aircraft maintenance costs are up to 36 percent less than other APUs because of the simple design.”

Honeywell’s 131-9A APU is the most commonly used APU for single-aisle commercial transport, totaling more than 1,700 APUs in service including forward-fit and retrofit. An APU is a small gas-powered turbine engine that provides bleed air for main engine starting and electrical power for cockpit and galley systems. Honeywell introduced the 131-9A in 1998 and continues technological advances to the design – a recent de-rate modification reduces fuel consumption by 5 percent. The 131-9A APU reduces emissions and fuel consumption over the life of the APU. The total cost of ownership is further reduced by high reliability and low maintenance costs.

For more information read the press releases on Honeywell’s agreements with Hainan Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines.

Honeywell will provide a suite of its safety and navigational avionics products and the 131-9A Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) for installation on 70 new Airbus A320 family aircraft to Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. The airline also finalized a long-term service agreement on the Honeywell APU.

The advanced avionics suite includes the IntuVue™ radar system, Honeywell’s 3-D weather radar that allows pilots to better see and avoid weather, wind shear and turbulence, ensuring a safer and more comfortable ride for passengers. 

Wizz Air selected Honeywell’s 131-9A APU, which provides class-leading fuel efficiency and low cost of ownership. Honeywell continues to pursue energy efficiency innovations, including the recent implementation of a fuel burn de-rate upgrade that reduces APU fuel consumption by 5 percent.

“This is a terrific example of an airline incorporating all of the energy efficiency savings Honeywell can provide, from making an individual aircraft more efficient with fuel saving APUs to helping the aircraft operate more efficiently in the air traffic system,” said T.K. Kallenbach, Honeywell Aerospace Vice President of Marketing and Product Management. 

“Honeywell was able to offer us the right combination of avionics products to improve the quality of operations while reducing operating costs,” said Marc Weber, Head of Technical Services at Wizz Air. “At the same time the Honeywell service agreement for the APUs provides us with a long term, high quality maintenance solution.” 

For more information, read the release or visit Honeywell’s IntuVue Overview Website.