ANA Introduces Shark Skin Film on 777F Cargo Aircraft for Fuel Efficiency and CO2 Reduction

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has commenced operation of its Boeing 777F (aircraft registration: JA771F) equipped with the riblet processed film ‘AeroSHARK’ developed by Lufthansa Technik, a part of the Lufthansa Group, starting September 2.

AeroSHARK is a film inspired by shark skin, featuring a surface finely processed with microstructures of about 50 micrometers. By applying it to the aircraft, it is expected to reduce air friction caused by airflow, thereby improving energy efficiency. A single sheet of the film measures about 1 meter in width and 0.5 meters in height. On the 777F, approximately 2,000 sheets are used to cover about 70 percent of the aircraft’s surface. According to ANA, this modification can reduce fuel consumption by about 250 tons and CO2 emissions by approximately 800 tons per aircraft annually.

The application work took about half a month, from August 13 to 31, at the HAECO Xiamen in China, and the aircraft was ferried to Narita Airport early in the morning of the same day. The first flight, NH8402 from Tokyo/Narita to Chicago, departed Narita Airport around 3:10 pm on September 2.

▲ Application work at HAECO Xiamen (Provided by ANA)

By next spring, AeroSHARK is planned to be introduced to the passenger aircraft Boeing 777-300ER (aircraft registration: JA796A). The company claims this marks the first time a single airline has introduced riblet technology to both passenger and cargo aircraft worldwide.

▲ ANA’s President Shinichi Inoue explaining the riblet film applied to the ‘Future Promise JET’ (October 4, 2022)

ANA is also advancing demonstration experiments of the riblet film developed jointly with Nikon on two Boeing 787-9 ‘Future Promise JET’ (aircraft registration: JA871A, JA874A) and one DHC-8−Q400 ‘Future Promise Prop’ (aircraft registration: JA461A). Shinji Koromoto, Manager of the ANA Maintenance Center Business Promotion Department, stated, “We decided to proceed with the introduction of AeroSHARK, which is at a stage where it can be implemented, aiming for early implementation,” and continued verification of the Nikon-produced riblet film is expected.