Taipei-based EVA Air will become the first Asian airline to modify its fleet of nine Boeing 777 freighters with environmentally friendly drag-reducing AeroSHARK surface technology.
Lufthansa Technik’s and BASF’s jointly developed AeroSHARK surface riblet film will cover the aircraft’s fuselage and engine nacelles to reduce drag, save fuel and reduce emissions.
The first EVA Air freighter has already undergone modification at the airline’s Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hub and is expected to re-enter commercial service in early September.
AeroSHARK is a surface film that is modelled on the drag-reducing structure of sharkskin. It consists of ribs around 50 micrometers in size – the so-called riblets. If several hundred square meters of the fuselage and engine nacelles are covered with this, the frictional resistance of the aircraft is reduced so that fuel consumption and the resulting emissions are reduced by around 1%, said Lufthansa Technik.
When in use on EVA Air’s nine 777Fs this equates to annual savings of more than 2,500 metric tons of kerosene and more than 7,800 metric tons of CO2 emissions, added the subsidiary of Lufthansa.
Guided by Lufthansa Technik, the modification was executed by EVA Air’s affiliate, Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation (EGAT).
“EVA Air is continually progressing towards its goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, constantly seeking the latest technologies to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Albert Liao, executive vice president corporate planning division at EVA Air.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Lufthansa Technik in applying the fuel-saving AeroSHARK surface technology to our 777 freighters. This innovation not only reduces fuel consumption but also lowers CO2 emissions. EVA Air will continuously monitor the actual fuel-saving benefits and further evaluate additional aircraft to be equipped with this technology.”
“EVA Air is well known for both its pioneering spirit and its technical expertise, hence we are all the more pleased that we succeeded in convincing them about the benefits of AeroSHARK, the world’s most advanced sharkskin product for the commercial aviation industry,” added Wassef Ayadi, senior director customer relations OEM & special engineering services at Lufthansa Technik.
“We are proud that with AeroSHARK we can provide international pioneers like EVA Air with a real quick-win measure to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations.”
Lufthansa Technik currently holds Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for the AeroSHARK modification of two types of Boeing 777.
Besides EVA Air’s first sharkskin-equipped freighter, a double-digit number of aircraft, including Lufthansa, is already in worldwide service with AeroSHARK. EVA Air’s entire 777 fleet is expected to be equipped until 2027.
According to Lufthansa Technik’s and BASF’s initial model calculations, the sharkskin technology could “avoid CO2 emissions of up to three percent in its maximum expansion stage”.
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