Lufthansa Cargo equips another freighter with fuel saving tech
17 / 10 / 2023
Source: Lufthansa Cargo/Oliver Roesler
Lufthansa Cargo has coated another one of its freighters with a film that helps reduce emissions.
The AeroSHARK technology reduces the aerodynamic drag on the fuselage and engine nacelles of the airline’s Boeing 777 freighters, resulting in “significant fuel and emissions savings”.
The latest freighter returned to service on October 13.
The carrier plans to coat all of its freighters in the film, with work on four of 11 aircraft completed since the start of the year.
Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
Modification of the next aircraft will begin in August 2024 during the regular maintenance layovers.
The technology was jointly developed by Lufthansa Technik and BASF.
Lufthansa Technik expects fuel savings of about 1% per aircraft and calculated over Lufthansa Cargo’s entire 777 fleet, this will save more than 4,000 metric tons of kerosene per year and almost 13,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
“This corresponds to about 53 cargo flights from Frankfurt to Shanghai,” the carrier said.
Lufthansa Cargo chief executive Ashwin Bhat said: “The special coating significantly reduces the frictional resistance of the aircraft.
“Together with the lightweight cargo equipment we already use today, this technology will enable us to save 5,493 tons of kerosene per year. This is an important step on our way to becoming 100% CO2-neutral in the air by 2050.”
