Austrian Airlines fits B777-200ER with AeroSHARK technology 

Austrian Airlines has become the latest carrier from the Lufthansa Group to adopt the aerodynamics-enhancing AeroSHARK technology. 

The Austrian flag carrier announced on January 14, 2024, that one of its Boeing 777-200ER aircraft (OE-LPC) had flown between Bangkok (BKK) and Vienna (VIE) featuring the specially treated fuel-saving fuselage surfaces. 

AeroSHARK was developed jointly by Lufthansa Technik, which is the engineering and maintenance arm of airline group, and German chemicals giant BASF. It consists of tiny transparent ribs (which are called “riblets” on account of their small dimensions, of around 50 micrometers in size) which are applied to the outer surfaces of the aircraft at some key points, enhancing the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft and helping the airline save fuel. The effect is similar to that achieved by the skin of sharks, which is where this technology gets its name. 

While this is the first Austrian Airlines aircraft and the first B777-200ER to use the technology, Lufthansa and SWISS have already fitted at least 17 other aircraft with this the AeroSHARK (one Boeing 747-400 and four B777Fs in the case of Lufthansa, as well as 12 Boeing 777-300ERs for SWISS). 

Austrian Airlines will fit four of its six B777-200ER with 830 square meters of AeroSHARK surface technology. It is expected that once the fitting process is completed by March 2025, each of the four aircraft will be able to save up to 1% of fuel on each trip. 

Elsewhere in the world, other airlines have also adopted AeroSHARK technology, including LATAM and All Nippon Airways (ANA). The post Austrian Airlines fits B777-200ER with AeroSHARK technology  appeared first on AeroTime.

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