Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has completed the installation of the fuel-saving AeroSHARK technology on all 12 of its Boeing 777-300ER long-haul aircraft. The transparent AeroSHARK film, which mimics the hydrodynamic skin of a shark, reduces air resistance by about one percent. As a result, even with only part of its Boeing 777 fleet equipped with this technology, AeroSHARK reduced SWISS’s kerosene consumption by over 2,200 tonnes last year, leading to a reduction of approximately 7,100 tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions.
‘We are very pleased with the results that we have achieved with AeroSHARK to date,’ says Claus Bauer, SWISS’s Head of Technical Fleet Management. ‘We’re proud, too, to be the first airline in the world to have equipped an entire aircraft fleet with this innovative technology. Each aircraft takes about a week to have its AeroSHARK film applied, which requires high-precision workmanship from our personnel. I am delighted that our commitment to this technology is delivering such positive results, and is enabling us at SWISS to take a further substantial step in making our flight operations more sustainable.’
The AeroSHARK aircraft skin technology, developed jointly by Lufthansa Technik and coatings manufacturer BASF, may soon be applied to more aircraft types. SWISS is considering extending the AeroSHARK application program to additional aircraft in its long-haul fleet in the medium-term future.
