As the commercial aviation industry is moving towards a net-zero emissions future, Lufthansa Group member carrier Austrian Airlines is doing its part in ensuring more sustainable aircraft operations with the introduction of "shark skin" technology onboard some of the it Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. A "shark" in the the sky At 00:18 local time on January 14, Austrian Airlines flight OS 26 lifted off from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport bound for Vienna. After an uneventful 12 hours in the air, the flight landed in Vienna at 05:00 local time, concluding the first Austrian Airlines flight to be conducted with AeroSHARK technology.
The aircraft that conducted the January 14 flight, OE-LPC, is a 23-year-old Boeing 777-200ER. The aircraft was originally delivered to now defunct Austrian Airlines leisure subsidiary Lauda Air in 2002 before moving into the official Austrian Airlines fleet in 2005. The aircraft has been in the fleet since.
Currently, the Lufthansa Group carrier has plans to equip four of its fleet of six 777-200ER aircraft with the novel technology, with all the modifications expected to be completed by March of this year. AeroSHARK is a "surface film technology", which was developed as a joint venture between the aircraft maintenance and engineering division of Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik , and a materials and chemical corporation called BASF. Made of "transparent ribs" called "riblets", when applied to conventional aircraft skin - the outside of an aircraft (such as a 7.
