Lufthansa Cargo will begin using AeroSHARK on all of its Boeing 777 freighters starting in 2023. This innovative surface technology, developed by Lufthansa Technik and BASF, will improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions, helping the company meet its sustainability goals. The first Boeing 777 freighter modified with AeroSHARK took off on February 3, 2023, and Lufthansa Cargo plans to gradually incorporate the technology into its entire fleet of 777 freighters.

AeroSHARK is a surface film inspired by shark skin and its microscopic structure can optimize the flow pattern on the fuselage and engine nacelles of the Boeing 777F, leading to significant fuel savings and emissions reductions. Lufthansa Technik expects the modified Boeing 777F to result in slightly over a 1% fuel savings, which extrapolated to the entire 777 fleet, would result in an annual savings of more than 4,000 metric tons of kerosene and nearly 13,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

“We are proud to be able to operate our entire freighter fleet even more efficiently in the future thanks to Sharkskin technology and to further reduce the carbon footprint of our modern fleet. Our investments for the introduction of AeroSHARK bring us closer to our goal of being 100 percent CO2-neutral in the air by 2050; on the ground, we would like to achieve this goal as early as 2030,” explains Dorothea von Boxberg, Chairwoman of the Executive Board and CEO of Lufthansa Cargo.

Lufthansa Technik, in collaboration with BASF, will handle the material specification, airworthiness certification, and implementation of the modifications during regular maintenance. The company received a Supplemental Type Certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency in December 2022, clearing the way for the widespread application of AeroSHARK.