Lufthansa Technik AG has announced EVA Air as the first Asian airline to sign for modifications with its drag-reducing and, hence, fuel-saving AeroSHARK surface technology, jointly developed with BASF.
The Taipei-based airline decided to have its entire cargo fleet of nine Boeing 777F long-range freighters modified 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 executed 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 modeled on sharkskin’s drag-reducing structure. 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 significantly that fuel consumption and the 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 tons of kerosene and more than 7,800 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
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 is already in worldwide service with AeroSHARK, and it is constantly growing further. EVA Air’s entire 777 fleet is expected to be equipped until 2027.
EVA Air aircraft photo gallery:
