Lufthansa Technik AG is proud to announce EVA Air as the first Asian airline to sign up for modifications with its drag-reducing, and hence fuel-saving, AeroSHARK surface technology, jointly developed with BASF. The Taipei-based airline has decided to modify its entire cargo fleet of nine Boeing 777F long-range freighters with the innovative riblet films, covering the aircraft’s fuselage and engine nacelles. With B-16786, the first EVA Air freighter has already undergone this comprehensive modification at the airline’s home base at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport. Closely guided by Lufthansa Technik, the modification was carried out by EVA Air's affiliate, Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp. (EGAT). The aircraft is expected to re-enter commercial service in early September.
AeroSHARK is a functional surface film modelled on the drag-reducing structure of sharkskin. It consists of ribs around 50 micrometres in size – the so-called riblets. If several hundred square metres of the fuselage and engine nacelles are covered with this, the frictional resistance of the aircraft is reduced so significantly that fuel consumption and resulting emissions are reduced by around one percent. Extrapolated to EVA Air’s nine 777F aircraft, this equates to annual savings of more than 2,500 metric tonnes of kerosene and over 7,800 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions.
“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 of the Corporate Planning Division at EVA Air. “We are delighted to collaborate with Lufthansa Technik in applying the fuel-saving AeroSHARK surface technology to our 777F 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, so we are all the more pleased to have succeeded in convincing them of the benefits of AeroSHARK, the world’s most advanced sharkskin product for the commercial aviation industry,” said Dr. Wassef Ayadi, Senior Director of 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, which is now in full swing at various airlines across the globe. Besides EVA Air’s first sharkskin-equipped freighter, a double-digit number of aircraft are already in worldwide service with AeroSHARK, and this number is constantly growing. EVA Air’s entire 777 fleet is expected to be equipped by 2027.
Lufthansa Technik and BASF have moreover set themselves the goal of consistently developing AeroSHARK further in order to support many more airlines worldwide in achieving their sustainability goals. Current development priorities include approvals for additional aircraft types and even larger surface areas. In initial model calculations, the sharkskin technology could potentially avoid CO2 emissions of up to three percent in its maximum expansion stage.
