What planes can learn from Sharks: how Sharkskin inspires air travel

There are wide-spread industry efforts to improve sustainability for products and human habits that have become beloved aspects of modern life. Air travel is a staple that few could imagine living without. Too accustomed have we become with quick transportation and jetting to remote places around the world on the same day or less than a day. So, the air travel industry is investing into better technologies from fuel-saving pilot interventions to carbon labeled travel. How animals in Nature move can teach us probably most about more sustainable and efficient movement. After all, Nature knows best. And has practiced it for billions of years. Nature is a master of efficiency. So, taking clues from Nature is only logical. and best practice.

On January 14, an innovative “sharkskin”-coated long-haul aircraft successfully completed its inaugural flight from Bangkok to Vienna, conducted by Austrian airlines. A first of four Boeing B777-200ERs that Austrian Airlines is actively planning to equip with this cutting-edge technology. An efficiency innovation inspired by shark skin.

The shark skin inspired tech mimics the shark’s frictional resistance when moving through the water. It reduces frictional resistance of a plane by an advanced film coating which leads to a reduction in both CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. The modification of all four aircraft is expected to be fully completed by March 2025. The Sharkskin Technology was developed by Lufthansa Technik and BASF.

By applying a total of 830 square meters of sharkskin film per aircraft on the exterior surfaces of the fuselage and engine nacelles, a saving of approximately one percent of the total fuel consumption per flight can be achieved. When applied to the fleet of four B777s, this technology has the potential to yield significant savings of around 2,650 tonnes of fuel and over 8,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions — a quantity that is equivalent to roughly 46 flights from Vienna to New York.

Now, in the big schemes of daily flights that sounds minimal. However, it’s a start.

AeroShark as this technology is called has been tested and used by other airlines, too. Starting already in December 2023, LATAM was the first airline in the Americas to deploy it. Based on the test results, LATAM plans to upgrade four more Boeing 777-300ERs with AeroShark, which could save up to 2,000 metric tons of kerosene and reduce CO₂ emissions by 6,000 metric tons each year, similar to the emissions from around 28 flights from São Paulo to Miami.

You see, as more airlines deploy technologies inspired by Nature - we could make the skies a lot eco-friendlier for travel.

Learning from Nature’s Design can help us in so many more ways to integrate modern aspects of life better with Earth and Her overall harmony. Whether you believe in climate change efforts or not - deploying designs that learn from Nature and contribute to health and harmony that way should have positive impacts and benefits for everyone.

So, next time as you fly - why not check if the plane you’re on, is equipped with AeroSHARK or has any other improvement that make flying more eco-friendly?