Lufthansa Group is outfitting over 20 planes in its fleet with AeroSHARK technology, a bionic adhesive film applied to the fuselage and engine nacelles of the aircraft to reduce friction resistance and decrease fuel consumption.
To date, 13 long-haul planes, including ten Boeing 777-300ERs operated by subsidiary SWISS and three Boeing 777Fs operated by Lufthansa Cargo, have already been equipped with this innovative adhesive film. Additionally, a Lufthansa Boeing 747 has been conducting test flights with this "sharkskin" since 2019.
Developed by Lufthansa Technik in collaboration with BASF, AeroSHARK coating technology is a "surface film" comprised of micrometer-sized protuberances that "mimic the properties of sharkskin," thus optimizing aerodynamics in areas related to airflow. This translates to an overall reduction in fuel consumption. For the 777Fs, Lufthansa Technik anticipates a drag reduction of "over 1%," resulting in annual fuel savings of over 4,000 tonnes and a reduction of nearly 13,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to "53 Frankfurt to Shanghai freight flights."
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