A Boeing 777-300 ER of the Swiss airline completes the first scheduled flight with replica shark skin. For Lufthansa Technik it is a final, important test.
Flight LX64 from Zurich to Miami on Friday (October 14) is a very special one. It took off at 1.39 p.m. from Switzerland’s largest airport – as the first passenger flight with a replica of shark skin. Because the Boeing 777-300 ER used by Swiss with the registration number HB-JNH has a surface coating called Aero Shark.
The aircraft’s fuselage and engine nacelles were covered with approximately 950 square meters of transparent film in more than 2,500 individual parts to replicate the flow-efficient properties of real shark skin. Microscopically small ribs – the so-called riblets – reduce the frictional resistance of the aircraft.
Fuel and CO2 savings in sight
“In flow simulations, a savings potential of just over one percent has already been determined for this type of aircraft,” explains Lufthansa Technik. The Lufthansa subsidiary developed Aero Shark together with the chemical company BASF.
The first scheduled flights of HB-JNH are now used to check this savings potential in real flight operations. If Aeroshark really does reduce frictional resistance by one percent, as expected, and fuel consumption by the same amount, according to Lufthansa Technik, the individual Boeing 777-300 ER would save around 400 tons of kerosene and more than 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Plans for Swiss and Lufthansa Cargo
The Aero Shark modifications to HB-JNH began as early as late August and culminated in several test flights on September 8th and 9th. It had to be proven in detail that the changes would not have any negative effects on the operational safety and handling of the Boeing 777.
As soon as the savings potential has been validated in real flight operations, Aero Shark is to be installed across the board on the eleven Boeing 777s from Swiss and the Boeing 777 F from Lufthansa Cargo. In addition Lufthansa Technik is hoping for external customers.
Photos and a video in the image gallery above show the Boeing 777 receiving Aero Shark.