Lufthansa Technik AG is proud to announce that EVA Air is the first Asian airline to sign a retrofit contract with AeroSHARK surface technology for drag reduction and fuel savings, developed in collaboration with BASF. The Taipei-based airline decided to retrofit its entire cargo fleet of nine Boeing 777F long-haul freighters with the innovative riblet film covering the fuselage and engine nacelles. With B-16786, EVA Air's first freighter has already undergone this comprehensive retrofit at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, EVA Air's home base. The retrofit was carried out by Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation (EGAT), an affiliate of EVA Air, under the close guidance of Lufthansa Technik. The aircraft is expected to enter commercial service in early September.
AeroSHARK is a functional surface film modeled on the drag-reducing structure of sharkskin. It consists of ribs (so-called riblets) measuring approximately 50 micrometers. Covering several hundred square meters of the fuselage and engine nacelles, it significantly reduces the aircraft's frictional resistance, lowering fuel consumption and associated emissions by around one percent. For EVA Air's nine 777F aircraft, this equates to a reduction of more than 2,500 tons of kerosene and more than 7,800 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
“EVA Air is constantly exploring new technologies to reduce carbon emissions as we continuously progress towards our goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said Albert Liao, EVA Air's executive vice president of corporate planning. “We are pleased to work with Lufthansa Technik to apply their fuel-saving AeroSHARK surface technology to our 777F freighters. This innovation not only reduces fuel consumption but also reduces CO2 emissions. EVA Air will continuously monitor the actual fuel-saving effects and further evaluate additional aircraft to be equipped with this technology.”
“EVA Air is well known for both its pioneering spirit and technological capabilities, so we are extremely pleased that we were able to convince them of the benefits of AeroSHARK, the world's most advanced Sharkskin product for the commercial aviation industry,” said Dr. Wasef Ayadi, Senior Director, Customer Relations OEM & Special Engineering Services at Lufthansa Technik. “With AeroSHARK, we are proud to offer an international pioneer like EVA Air a truly immediate solution to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations.”
Lufthansa Technik currently holds Supplemental Type Certificates (STC) for the AeroSHARK conversion of two Boeing 777s, which are currently being rolled out to various airlines around the world. In addition to EVA Air's first Sharkskin-equipped freighter, there is already a double-digit number of AeroSHARK-equipped aircraft in operation around the world, and more are being added. EVA Air's entire 777 fleet is scheduled to be equipped by 2027.
Furthermore, Lufthansa Technik and BASF have set themselves the goal of continuously developing AeroSHARK to help even more airlines around the world reach their sustainability goals. Current development priorities include the approval of additional aircraft types and even larger surface areas. Initial model calculations indicate that Sharkskin technology could avoid up to three percent of CO2 emissions in its maximum expansion phase.
