Lufthansa Technik has announced that LATAM Airlines Group has become the first external carrier in the Americas to equip their Boeing 777s with the innovative fuel-saving AeroSHARK film.
On Friday (October 4, 2024) Lufthansa Technik AG announced that LATAM Airlines Group S.A. has become their first external customer in the Americas to equip their Boeing 777s with the innovative AeroSHARK film to save fuel. In December 2023, LATAM had their first Boeing 777-300ER fitted with AeroSHARK in São Paulo, which has since shown that the innovative bionic surface film results in an approximately one percent reduction in fuel burn. With these positive results, LATAM plans to retrofit four additional Boeing 777s with AeroSHARK, and soon, five AeroSHARK-modified jets will be operated by LATAM Airlines Group’s subsidiary, LATAM Airlines Brazil.
In Friday’s announcement, LATAM Airlines Group’s Director of Fleet and Projects, Sebastián Acuto, said,
“Our fleet modernization strategy is a cornerstone of our commitment to sustainability and our vision of achieving net zero by 2050. We remain focused on innovation and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, ensuring our fleet evolves in line with our environmental goals.”
Also commenting on LATAM’s successful AeroSHARK rollout, Lufthansa Technik’s Senior Director of Sales – Latin America and the Caribbean, Robin Johansson, said,
“LATAM’s decision confirms once again: AeroSHARK works. This further encourages us to use our engineering skills and innovative strength to contribute to aviation with lower CO₂ emissions. We look forward to collaborating with more customers globally and applying our fuel-saving sharkskin technology to even more aircraft.”
LATAM Airlines Brazil Will Soon be Operating Five AeroSHARK Equipped Boeing 777-300ERs - Courtesy Lufthansa
Developed jointly by BASF and Lufthansa Technik, AeroSHARK is a surface film that mimics the flow-optimized structure of sharkskin, and features riblets measuring approximately 50 micrometers. Once several hundred square meters of the film are applied to the aircraft fuselage and engine nacelles, it reduces drag, thereby leading to reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. When LATAM Airlines Brazil’s five Boeing 777-300ERs are equipped with AeroSHARK, the airline can expect to save 2,000 metric tons of jet fuel and 6,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, the equivalent of 28 flights from São Paulo to Miami on a Boeing 777.
Source: Lufthansa
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