American Airlines today completed the first flight of a Boeing 767-300ER with blended winglets supplied by Aviation Partners Boeing.

Flight 78 left Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on 8 March at 8:35 p.m. with 204 passengers onboard, landing ahead of schedule on 9 March at London Heathrow.

American is the launch customer for the 11ft tall blended winglets on the 767-300ER, and APB partner GKN during the 2008 Farnborough air show said it plans to build 450 winglet shipsets for the 767-300ER, forecasting a build rate of 16 per month during peak production.

American says APB estimates each winglet-equipped aircraft should save up to 500,000 gallons of fuel annually depending on miles flown, which could result in a total savings of 29 million gallons annually.

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