The BRABUS
Adventure Lounge

At the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Lufthansa Technik is presenting an exclusive extension of its new wide-body VIP cabin concept EXPLORER: The BRABUS Adventure Lounge enables on-site excursions with motorcycles carried on board and exclusively staged.

The EXPLORER design concept was first unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show last September. It is based on the current trend for superyachts that fulfill two wishes for their owners: To take them almost anywhere at any time, and to serve them at their destination as an individual hotel and base camp for a wide variety of leisure activities and excursions. Lufthansa Technik's specialists have chosen the Airbus A330 as the platform for realizing these customer wishes in private aviation. As a classic widebody aircraft, it offers sufficient space for a large number of novel cabin ideas and also a sufficiently large range to fulfill the special wishes of the EXPLORER target group.

Within the overarching theme of "explorers and adventure", there is now an exclusive extension: in collaboration with world renowned luxury mobility brand BRABUS, a special Adventure Lounge has been designed in the rear part of the lower deck, which can be viewed from the main deck through a glass floor. Similar to a "Tenders & Toys Garage" of a superyacht, a selection of additional vehicles can be stored here for discovery tours after landing. The all-new EXPLORER design features the first and strictly limited BRABUS motorcycle, the BRABUS 1300 R, created in collaboration with leading Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM. As part of this exclusive partnership, the featured BRABUS 1300R models are not only housed here, but also attractively presented to guests and passengers. The BRABUS Adventure Lounge can easily be accessed from the main deck via a convenient staircase. The expansion of this lounging to include an area for servicing the mobile treasures or housing additional "mobility equipment" can be easily represented.

"In addition to the floor extending from the front fuselage area to form a veranda and the projection surfaces for virtual content integrated on a large scale in the cabin design, the BRABUS Adventure Lounge perfectly rounds off our concept for world explorers," explained Jan Grube, Sales Director in VIP & Special Mission Aircraft Services. "This flying platform provides its guests with a very individual base camp for further activities anywhere in the world – now extended by an exciting element with the BRABUS Adventure Lounge. We are particularly pleased to have BRABUS, a globally renowned partner, at our side for the realization of this feature."

For the BRABUS Adventure Lounge, the corresponding area in the cargo hold was designed in such a way that both the safe and appealing transport of the motorcycles is possible and the passengers also have access to their treasures. For this purpose, it is possible to build on an existing solution for the crew rest areas, which already includes solutions for stairs and access hatches to the cargo. Another area of focus is the safe transport of equipment of all kinds. Here, existing features and procedures for transporting cargo on board such aircraft must be taken into account.

Because of its many potential uses, Lufthansa Technik will use the EXPLORER concept as an ideas laboratory to elaborate and present in more detail in the future further ideas and technologies that currently exist only on the drawing board. An animated film and extensive visual material will be on display by Lufthansa Technik at booth #G55 at this year's EBACE.

 

About BRABUS

Deeply rooted in tech and inspired by good design, BRABUS is a world-renowned luxury mobility brand based in the heart of Germany's Ruhr region. Known globally among enthusiasts for the creation of high-end supercars, day boats and motorcycles – and as automotive individualization experts for over four decades, the BRABUS name is synonymous with unmistakable 1-Second Wow luxury, handcrafted exclusivity and high-end performance.

Lufthansa Technik's Special Aircraft Services unit is experiencing a continuation of the high demand for technical services for VIP, government and business aircraft even as international commercial air traffic recovers. The company has an excellent workload for the next few years, with only a few slots still available.

Michael von Puttkamer, Vice President Special Aircraft Services at Lufthansa Technik, commented: "Our Special Aircraft Services business was one of the few areas of Lufthansa Technik that was not affected by the massive pandemic-related impact on international aviation in recent years. The extensive technical support provided to VIP, government and business aircraft during the crisis period was a central pillar of the company's economic recovery over the past twelve months. It is all the more important that the high level of demand continues in the coming years. Our current order situation is one of the best in the company's history. We have therefore already taken various measures in recent months, such as adding more staff, to adjust our structures and processes so that we can handle all projects to the absolute satisfaction of our customers despite high capacity utilization."

The excellent order situation relates not only completions with their high-quality new cabin installations for aircraft of government and private VIP customers, but also to the corresponding modification and maintenance services. In addition to its core business with this clientele, Lufthansa Technik has long been providing technical services for military customers, such as the German Air Force, but also for the air forces of other Western nations. In both areas the company sees very good growth opportunities for the next few years, for example in the field of security products, which are currently experiencing increased demand, especially from government customers. Lufthansa Technik has also established a new business unit, Defense Programs, to further strengthen its activities with military customers.

Wieland Timm, Head of Sales VIP & Special Mission Aircraft Services at Lufthansa Technik, added: "In addition to our decades of experience and our well-known high quality standards, our extremely broad product portfolio is another reason for our customers to entrust themselves to us. No other provider in this particular business segment can offer such a range of services from a single source for both the entire Boeing and the entire Airbus family in the areas of cabin, airframe and engines. This is because we offer not only technical services but also comprehensive engineering and design capabilities, as our latest VIP cabin concept "EXPLORER" clearly demonstrates. Our international network and mobile maintenance services also help us to be as close to the customer as possible."

Lufthansa Technik has been providing technical services to VIP and government customers for more than 60 years. Among other things, the company has already implemented more than 150 completions and major modifications. Last year, as part of a restructuring, the company reorganized the "Original Equipment and Special Aircraft Services (OES)" segment as one of a total of five major business segments. This segment combines all competencies in the areas of cabin completions and conversions, cabin products and maintenance services. As a result, the broad customer group of VIP and special mission customers with their individual requirements can be optimally served from a single source, from individual production to series production of cabin products designed by Lufthansa Technik, such as in-flight entertainment and cabin management systems, as well as special engineering services.

Lufthansa Technik has recently enhanced its AVIATAR digital platform with various new digital fleet management applications for the Boeing 737 NG (Next Generation), which are now made available to 737 operators around the world. The new Condition Monitoring and Prediction offerings were co-created with United Airlines, which partnered with Lufthansa Technik starting in early 2021 on the 737 NG and Airbus A320 family to jointly develop unique predictive maintenance solutions by combining world class engineering know-how and industry leading data science teams.

By integrating the Boeing 737 NG into AVIATARs Condition Monitoring troubleshooting solution, United Airlines and all other customers can now manage technical operations for their Airbus and Boeing aircraft side-by-side on a single screen. In addition, they can now benefit from a growing number of Predictive Maintenance use cases developed for the Boeing 737 NG that help to avoid unplanned maintenance events or AOGs (Aircraft on Ground). AVIATAR now also offers integration with United's M&E (Maintenance & Engineering) system logbook and embeds OEM documentation linking features for the 737 NG amongst other new features.

"As one of the world's largest airlines, we are proud to see our world class engineering and industry leading data analytics teams contribute to the success of this service," said Kurt Carpenter, United Vice President of Technical Operations Planning and Strategy. "Our goal entering this effort was to focus on operationalizing new predictive maintenance alerts and data to provide decision support and prescriptive maintenance outputs to our frontline teams. AVIATAR team and United teams worked to consolidate Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance alerting for the 737 NG and A319/A320 fleets into a single platform in just one year. Our Digital Technology teams also collaborated to integrate our maintenance logbook, in-house predictive alerting and technical manual workflows. We look forward to continuing this relationship and to co-developing new and unique predictive maintenance models with the AVIATAR team."

"By using Condition Monitoring, United is the first airline in the Americas that uses the full extent of seamless Boeing and Airbus efficient troubleshooting with a fleet of over 500 aircraft on the AVIATAR platform," said Georgios Ouzounidis, Lufthansa Technik Head of Corporate Sales for the Americas. "Our AVIATAR team did an excellent job in customer centric development and customized the interface to United's Maintenance software adding a new interface into our open system landscape. The outstanding and successful transatlantic cooperation and teamwork during the pandemic between the digital teams of AVIATAR and United's Tech-Ops, is an excellent blueprint for partnership projects in digitalization, Tech-Ops and MRO."

Based on aircraft and maintenance data, Condition Monitoring provides an overview of the overall operational aircraft condition. The immediate detection of faults increases troubleshooting efficiency and enables proactive corrective actions leading to higher aircraft availability. With Condition Monitoring aircraft data (e.g. from the Central Maintenance Computer, the  Aircraft Condition Monitoring System, or the Aircraft Movement Message) is collected via the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) or SITA network and visualizes the aircraft status and flight schedule. In addition, this health data is combined with work orders and position data. Condition Monitoring provides customizable alerts and notifications on aircraft or fleet level as well as for Air Transport Association chapters. Thus, the user gains an excellent overview of potential corrective actions for respective maintenance and repair operations.

Launched in 2017, AVIATAR is the independent platform for digital products and services developed by Lufthansa Technik. The platform offers its users digital solutions ranging from predictive maintenance to automated fulfilment solutions. AVIATAR combines fleet management solutions, data science and engineering expertise to provide a comprehensive range of integrated digital services and products for airlines, MRO companies, OEMs and lessors that seamlessly integrate with physical fulfilment in TechOps and beyond.

Avelo Airlines has recently awarded Lufthansa Technik with a contract to supply material for its growing fleet of Boeing 737NG aircraft. This agreement is the first cooperation between the two companies. In the years ahead, Lufthansa Technik will provide Avelo with Consumables and Expendables to support the new low-fare airline as it grows. Lufthansa Technik operates an extensive network of supply and MRO facilities and guarantees Avelo industry leading performance with this agreement.

Avelo commenced operations in April 2021, and currently operates a fleet of eight 737NG aircraft (five 737-700s and three 737-800s). The airline plans to add additional 737NGs to its fleet by the end of 2022.   

"Avelo Airlines is pursuing an ambitious growth plan, something that would be impossible without the strong support of our partners," said Gary Martin, Avelo's Head of Technical Operations. "We rely on Lufthansa Technik, whose renowned reliability will help us achieve the operational performance our customers expect from Avelo."

"We thank Avelo for the trust they put in us and we are eager to justify it with outstanding reliability and service in order to strongly support Avelo on their growth path," said Constantin Zachrau, Senior Director Corporate Sales Americas at Lufthansa Technik.  

 

About Avelo Airlines 

Avelo Airlines was founded with a simple purpose — to Inspire Travel. The airline offers Customers time and money-saving convenience, very low everyday fares, and a refreshingly smooth and caring experience through its Avelo Soul of Service culture. Operating a fleet of Boeing Next Generation 737 aircraft, Avelo serves 18 popular destinations across the U.S., including its West Coast base at Los Angeles' Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) and its East Coast base at Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN). For more information visit AveloAir.com. Avelo BROLL + Images here.

AvAir, an industry leading inventory solutions provider for the aviation aftermarket, and Lufthansa Technik have signed an addendum to their long-term aftermarket sales agreement. This addendum includes a second large material takeover. The initial agreement between the two companies was reached in 2020, in which AvAir took over 9,000 line items from Lufthansa Technik's worldwide material pools. The Arizona-based company has now acquired an additional 9,000 aircraft components.

This time, the agreement also includes as-removed and unserviceable units in addition to serviceable and overhauled items. The agreement implies that Lufthansa Technik receives a share of the proceeds from resold components under a profit share agreement. The material is considered overstock and a majority of the parts comes directly from the Lufthansa Technik material pool and aircraft teardowns. The sale significantly contributes to the optimization of inventory at Lufthansa Technik's warehouses in Germany, delivery of the components will commence immediately to AvAir facilities in Ireland and Chandler, Arizona, in the United States. Despite this major logistical endeavor for teams of Lufthansa Technik on both continents, the complete transfer of material is expected to be completed in the next 90 days.

"The initial agreement was signed in 2020, and it has proved to be an overwhelming success for both parties, Lufthansa Technik's commitment to adding to the existing agreement is proof of that," said Mike Bianco, Chief Executive Officer of AvAir.

With this transaction, AvAir has added an even wider range of commercial and regional aircraft material to its inventory. The assets include parts for Boeing 737, 737NG, 747-400, 747-8, 777 Freighter, 787, Airbus A320, A330, A340, A350, A380, as well as for regional aircraft types, and miscellaneous material.

Similar to the first agreement in 2020, the material from this deal will come with dual or triple release certification (FAA/EASA/CAAC) from Lufthansa Technik and with a 12-month warranty.

"Our long-standing partnership with AvAir demonstrates our commitment to continuously improve the allocation of our rotable spare parts inventory. It is also a sign of a recovering industry and we look forward to further increasing efficiency in our supply chain with similar opportunities in the future," said Christian Ehard, Director Production Alternatives, Lufthansa Technik Component Services.

AvAir will again make the acquired inventory available for both exchanges and outright sales from AvAir's facilities in Chandler, Arizona, and Dublin, Ireland, which just celebrated its two year anniversary.

The Supervisory Board of Lufthansa Technik has appointed Harald Gloy (49) as a member of the Executive Board for five years, effective July 1, 2022. As Chief Operating Officer (COO), he will be responsible for Operations and Logistics. In addition, Harald Gloy will have responsibility as "Accountable Manager" in accordance with EASA Part 145 and will be the contact person for aviation authorities with regard to Lufthansa Technik AG's maintenance operations. Gloy succeeds Soeren Stark in this position, who at the same time will become the new Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik.

As Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Labor Director, Harald Gloy will also take over the Executive Board department Human Resources, which is currently still headed by Executive Board Chairman Dr. Johannes Bussmann, who will, however, leave the company at his own request at the end of June 2022.

Dr. Detlef Kayser, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Lufthansa Technik AG and member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said after today's decision: "It is very good news for Lufthansa Technik that we have been able to win Harald Gloy for this task. He has already successfully demonstrated his great expertise and competence in various responsible positions at both Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo. This makes him the ideal person to fill this important position."

Harald Gloy, who is currently on statutory parental leave, was Chief Operations Officer at Lufthansa Cargo from January 2019, and in March 2021 he took on the additional role of Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director there.

Graduate engineer Harald Gloy studied industrial engineering at the Technical University of Berlin as well as Arizona State University (USA). He started his professional career in the Lufthansa Group in 1999 at Lufthansa Technik Logistik in materials management, where he quickly assumed operational management responsibilities. In 2003 he joined Lufthansa Technik in Corporate Development and Strategy, and in 2006 took over as head of the Aircraft Overhaul and Modification production unit in Hamburg. After holding various management positions as head of Component Maintenance Services and head of Engine Services he was heading Lufthansa Technik's entire component business from 2014 before being appointed to the Executive Board of Lufthansa Cargo in Frankfurt.

In addition to his duties in the companies of the Lufthansa Group, Harald Gloy was also actively involved as a member of the Executive Board of the Aviation Cluster Hamburg Aviation and the Air Cargo Community Frankfurt, as a member of the Supervisory Board of the ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research and as a member of the Innovation Commission at the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport.

South Korean carrier Asiana Airlines and Lufthansa Technik AG have extended their contract for the repair and overhaul of Asiana's CF6-80 engines powering the airline's Boeing 747 and 767 fleets. The  5 year non-exclusive contract is covering a total of 17 B767-300 and B747-400 aircraft.

This extension will strengthen Lufthansa Technik's business in the Asian market, one of the strongest growing regions, and generate a stable workload for the CF6 product line over the next years.

"There were numerous good reasons to choose Lufthansa Technik as our preferred MRO partner again," said Hoon Bae, General Manager of Aircraft & Supplies Purchasing at Asiana Airlines. "With the seamless support and services that have been delivered, we are very confident that Lufthansa Technik will always do their very best to keep us flying." 

 

"We are very proud that Asiana Airlines has decided to extend our trustful cooperation. We look forward to further supporting them with our knowhow and engine service capabilities", said Kijung Shin, Corporate Key Account Manager at Lufthansa Technik.

Lufthansa Technik and Asiana Airlines have been working together for more than 25 years already. Lufthansa Technik also provides component maintenance for the Asiana Boeing 777-200ER fleet, an integrated Total Component Support for the airline's Airbus A320F and A350 fleets and CF6 engine support and heavy maintenance for the carrier's Airbus A380 fleet.

 

About Asiana Airlines:

Asiana Airlines was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Seoul (South Korea). The airline currently operates a fleet of 82 long-and short-haul aircraft that fly to 6 domestic and 63 international destinations in 21 countries. Its cargo route network covers 26 cities in 11 countries. Asiana Airlines became a Star Alliance member in 2003.

More than two years ago, Lufthansa Technik was one of the first industrial companies in Germany to start setting up so-called campus networks based on the latest mobile communications standard 5G. Based on the excellent experience in the engine services business unit, the 5G network there has now been extended to a second overhaul workshop. As a result, additional customers can now witness their engine layovers remotely via the AVIATAR platform. Any interference with flight operations, which was recently the subject of controversy in the United States, can be ruled out at the Hamburg base.

Lufthansa Technik had already been operating its own 5G campus network since 2020. At that time, it was used for the first time in a Hamburg workshop for aircraft engines, where the CFM56 and V2500 types are overhauled. Here, 5G made it possible to reliably use high-resolution video streams in the visual inspection of engine parts. In times of massive travel restrictions during the Corona crisis, this so-called "Virtual Table Inspection" (VTI) quickly advanced from a test project to a business-critical infrastructure, because customers no longer had to travel to Hamburg to have their engine parts inspected.

As this offering quickly became indispensable in daily operations, Lufthansa Technik fully integrated the 5G-powered VTI into its AVIATAR Digital Operations Suite in 2021. Recently, the network and services have now been extended to the second engine shop where LEAP* and CF6-80 engines are overhauled. The latter's operators can now also interact remotely with the mechanics on-site in Hamburg, saving time and money while making important repair decisions for their engines. As such decisions often involve six-digit figures, the high video resolution and the stable, reliable and confidential connection to the customer at all times provided by 5G are essential for this offering.

The number of services using the 5G infrastructure has also increased in the meantime. Both overhaul workshops now offer borescopy examinations via the fast, dedicated campus network. The high-resolution video stream here provides customers with high-quality insights into even the most remote cavities and other hard-to-reach areas of their engines, from the other end of the world, if necessary. Here, too, the high video resolution made possible by 5G plays to its strengths, especially since digital measurements are also possible within the live-streamed borescopy. In one case, even the smallest scratch marks of just 0.3 millimeters in length were reliably identified.

"In the pandemic situation, virtual parts inspections and digital borescopies have clearly gained acceptance in our company. The 5G-based video streams have helped us enormously," said Michael Kirstein, Vice President Operations Engine Services at Lufthansa Technik, adding, "In the past, such inspections often had to be planned several weeks in advance. Now we can schedule inspections at very short notice, which our customers really appreciate."

Ten-year license from the German Federal Network Agency enables future expansion

To continue operating its own and independent 5G networks, Lufthansa Technik received a fixed ten-year license from the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) toward the end of 2021. This secures the independent application of this future technology at the Hamburg headquarters for the long term. This also means that nothing stands in the way of further expansion of the campus network there. Due to the promising properties of 5G technology, which Lufthansa Technik is largely free to configure for its own purposes, the company is already considering further possible applications in the advancing digitalization of the MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) business. One example of future applications is the localization of components, which could be significantly simplified with upcoming releases of the 5G standard.

projects, it is advisable not to commit to a standard from the outset, but to evaluate specific use cases in an open-ended manner with regard to technology and manufacturers and then to address them with the best technology available at the time," explains Dr. Claudius Noack, IT Consultant at Lufthansa Industry Solutions. The sister company accompanied the process at Lufthansa Technik in an advisory capacity from the very beginning and, based on the experience gained here, now supports companies around the world in rolling out their own 5G networks.

"We are very pleased with the opportunities 5G offers us and with the successful implementation," adds Stephan Drewes, Head of Information Management at Lufthansa Technik. "Of course, we will only roll out this technology further and configure it to fit the specific requirements on-site where 5G demonstrably brings a technological or economic advantage over other wired or radio-based technologies, such as Wi-Fi 6, for the particular use case. In this regard, we place particular trust in the competent partnership with Lufthansa Industry Solutions."

Interference between 5G network and flight operations ruled out here

Not least because the Hamburg base is directly adjacent to the Hanseatic city's international airport, Lufthansa Technik also pays utmost attention to the operational security of its radio networks. Possible interference of 5G technology with flight operations, as has recently been the subject of controversial discussion, especially in the United States, is ruled out at the Hamburg base simply because of the frequency bands used in Europe.

The frequency band used by Lufthansa Technik is between 3.7 and 3.8 GHz. Compared with the public 5G band (3.7 to 3.98 GHz) in the United States, the safety margin to the frequency band used by radar altimeters on commercial aircraft (4.2 to 4.4 GHz) is twice as large here. Moreover, Lufthansa Technik has so far employed 5G technology exclusively inside industrial buildings, which, with their high steel and concrete content, massively shield all wireless networks from the outside world.

Due to its own high safety standards, Lufthansa Technik has had BNetzA document the clearance of its 5G network with a so-called site certificate, although this is not actually mandatory given the performance of the 5G antennas used here. In addition, measurements were carried out at the Hamburg base in February 2022 in collaboration with the technology company Rohde & Schwarz. The company's world-renowned experts in mobile network quality measurements were unable to detect any 5G signals outside the areas designated for the campus network, with the network scanner used being significantly more sensitive than a cell phone and registering even the weakest signals.

* LEAP engines are a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint venture between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines.

Lufthansa Technik AG took a big step out of the pandemic-related aviation crisis during financial year 2021 and returned to profitability. The company achieved the turnaround through comprehensive restructuring, a clear customer focus and the further development of its product portfolio. Lufthansa Technik was able to increase revenue by 7% to 4.003 billion euros (previous year: 3.747 billion euros) and again generated a clearly positive adjusted EBIT of 210 million euros (previous year: -383 million euros).

"2021 was another tough year that demanded everything from all of us. We have rigorously reorganized and restructured painfully, but today Lufthansa Technik is better, more efficient and more powerful than before the crisis. We owe this not least to the commitment and flexibility of our employees," said Dr. Johannes Bussmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik.

The turnaround was centrally managed by the RISE program, which was launched as early as 2020. Its measures included a more streamlined organization with only five segments instead of eight business units, as well as structural changes that included the closure or sale of maintenance and overhaul sites. There were no business-related layoffs in Germany.

SWISS has decided to equip its entire Boeing long-haul fleet with the fuel-saving AeroSHARK surface technology. Starting in the middle of the year, a total of twelve Boeing 777-300ERs will gradually be fitted with the riblet films developed jointly by Lufthansa Technik and BASF. The significantly reduced frictional resistance resulting from this modification will make the sub-fleet more than one percent more fuel-efficient and lower in emissions.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is the first passenger airline worldwide to use the innovative surface technology to significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions of one of its existing fleets, thereby improving both economy and ecology. With approximately 950 square meters of riblet film, the modification of the "long" Boeing 777-300ER will be even larger than the 800 square meters on the Boeing 777F of AeroSHARK's launch customer Lufthansa Cargo. The potential for fuel and CO₂ savings on this scale is around 1.1 percent. Converted to the operational profile of the twelve Boeing 777-300ERs at SWISS, this means annual savings of more than 4,800 tons of kerosene and roughly 15,200 tons of carbon dioxide, as much as is usually generated on approximately 87 long-haul flights from Zurich to Mumbai.

"Reducing our environmental footprint is one of the biggest challenges facing the aviation industry, and becoming carbon-neutral until 2050 is an important strategic goal for SWISS," said Dieter Vranckx, Chief Executive Officer of SWISS. "We are keen to actively promote and invest in the use of new technologies. We are pleased to be the world's first passenger airline to offer the innovative AeroSHARK technology on our Boeing 777 fleet, making another important contribution to more sustainable air travel in the future."

"Due to the long lifecycles in our industry, we cannot only rely on new aircraft generations to reduce our environmental footprint, but also need to specifically optimize existing fleets towards sustainability," explained Dr. Johannes Bussmann, Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa Technik. "AeroSHARK makes a significant contribution to this, and I am very pleased that SWISS is leading the way."

"In developing our Novaflex Sharkskin surfaces, the focus was on a robust yet functional solution that meets the stringent requirements of aviation and also helps our customers achieve their sustainability goals," said Uta Holzenkamp, head of BASF's Coatings division and in this position also responsible for functional films. "The fact that SWISS is convinced by our solution shows that economic action and sustainability go hand in hand."

SWISS will install AeroSHARK on its Boeing 777-300ER fleet successively from mid-2022 during suitable maintenance layovers. The airline had already supported Lufthansa Technik and BASF during the development phase of AeroSHARK: In the summer of 2021, a Boeing 777 wing was precisely measured for the entire duration of a regularly scheduled flight between Zurich and San Francisco. With the data collected, Lufthansa Technik was subsequently able to create highly accurate 3D models for flow simulations, on the basis of which the AeroSHARK modification is to be extended to the wings of the Boeing 777 in the near future in order to realize further savings potential. SWISS will also provide one of its aircraft for the so-called STC flight to obtain the required Supplemental Type Certificate from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

AeroSHARK is a surface technology developed jointly by Lufthansa Technik and BASF that consists of ribs around 50 micrometers in size - known as riblets. It specifically imitates the properties of sharkskin, which has particularly favorable flow characteristics, and thus optimizes aerodynamics at relevant points on the aircraft. As a result, less fuel is needed overall. Lufthansa Technik and BASF intend to systematically develop the new technology further in the direction of additional aircraft types and even larger surfaces, so that in the future they will be able to provide airlines around the world with even more extensive support in achieving their emissions targets. In initial model calculations, the sharkskin technology in its maximum expansion stage could even avoid CO₂ emissions to the tune of up to three percent.

 

About SWISS:

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is Switzerland's largest airline. It connects Switzerland to Europe and the world with direct flights from its national airports in Zurich and Geneva. To do so, it operates one of Europe's youngest and most fuel-efficient fleets. Its freight division, Swiss WorldCargo, offers a comprehensive range of airport-to-airport services for high-value goods and care-intensive cargo. As Switzerland's airline, SWISS stands for its traditional values and is committed to the highest product and service quality. SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group and a member of the Star Alliance, the world's largest network of airlines.

About BASF`s Coatings division:

The Coatings division of BASF is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. This portfolio is supplemented by "Beyond Paint Solutions", which enable new applications with innovative surfaces. We create advanced performance solutions and drive performance, design and new applications to meet our partners' needs all over the world. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific. In 2020, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about €3.1 billion.