Austrian Airlines has announced the first Boeing 777-200ER equipped with “sharkskin” successfully completed its maiden long-haul flight from Bangkok to Vienna on January 14. The AeroSHARK surface technology, developed by Lufthansa Technik and BASF, significantly reduces frictional resistance resulting in a savings of approximately one percent of the total fuel consumption per flight.
 
The AeroSHARK technology consists of transparent ribs approximately 50 micrometers in size that imitate the properties of aerodynamic sharkskin and thus optimizes the aerodynamics when applied to the fuselage and engine nacelles of the aircraft.
 
The aircraft is the first of a total of four B777-200ERs that Austrian Airlines will equip with the technology, a modification that will be completed by March 2025. The technology can result in savings of about 2,650 tons of fuel and over 8,300 tons of CO2.

“Reducing our CO2 emissions in flight operations is at the center of our sustainability efforts. The application of the ‘sharkskin’ developed by Lufthansa Technik is an important investment that will enable us to fly our long-haul aircraft more efficiently,” said Austrian COO Francesco Sciortino.

Image: Courtesy of Lufthansa