EVA Air, Taiwanese independent airline, has been announced by Lufthansa Technik AG as the first Asian airline having signed 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 homebase at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport.
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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 that is 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 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.
Albert Liao, executive vice president corporate planning division at EVA Air said: “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.
“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.”
Dr. Wassef Ayadi, senior director customer relations OEM & Special Engineering Services at Lufthansa Technik said: “EVA Air is well known for both its pioneering spirit and its technical expertise, hence we are all the more pleased that we succeeded in convincing them about the benefits of AeroSHARK, the world’s most advanced sharkskin product for the commercial aviation industry.
“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.”
