LATAM Airlines Installs AeroSHARK Film on Boeing 777
LATAM Airlines Brazil has successfully fitted its Boeing 777 with Lufthansa Technik’s innovative AeroSHARK film, a significant advancement in fuel efficiency. This marks the first application of AeroSHARK on an aircraft operated by an external carrier in the Americas.
On October 3, 2024, Lufthansa Technik announced that LATAM plans to retrofit four additional Boeing 777s with the fuel-saving technology, bringing the total to five. The initial LATAM Boeing 777-300ER was fitted with AeroSHARK in December 2023 in São Paulo, resulting in approximately 1% fuel savings for the airline.
Sebastián Acuto, Director of Fleet and Projects at LATAM Airlines Group, stated, “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 to ensure our fleet evolves in line with our environmental goals.”
Developed by BASF and Lufthansa Technik, AeroSHARK is a surface film designed to mimic the flow-optimized structure of sharkskin, featuring riblets approximately 50 micrometers in size. When applied to the aircraft’s fuselage and engine nacelles, the film reduces drag, leading to decreased fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Robin Johansson, Senior Director of Sales at Lufthansa Technik for Latin America and the Caribbean, remarked, “LATAM’s decision confirms that AeroSHARK works. This encourages us to use our engineering skills to contribute to aviation with lower CO₂ emissions. We look forward to collaborating with more customers globally to apply our fuel-saving technology to additional aircraft.”
Once all five Boeing 777-300ERs are equipped with AeroSHARK, LATAM Airlines Brazil expects to save 2,000 metric tons of jet fuel and reduce CO2 emissions by 6,000 metric tons annually—equivalent to the emissions from 28 flights from São Paulo to Miami on a Boeing 777.
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