Swiss International Air Lines has become the first passenger airline in the world to take advance of the new AeroSHARK aircraft skin technology co-developed by Lufthansa Technik and coatings manufacturer BASF.

Designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the fuel consumption of its flight operations, all twelve of Swiss’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will be fitted with the riblet film.

Swiss said the coating will result in a “significant reduction” in aerodynamic drag, making its Boeing 777 aircraft more than one per cent more fuel-efficient.

SWISS’ CEO Dieter Vranckx said: “Reducing its environmental footprint is one of the greatest challenges ahead for the aviation sector, and being carbon-neutral in our flying by 2050 is a key SWISS strategic objective.

“We put a major emphasis at SWISS on actively promoting and making targeted investments in new technologies. And we’re delighted that, in becoming the world’s first passenger airline to use the innovative AeroSHARK technology, as we’ll be doing with our Boeing 777 fleet, we’ll now be making a further substantial contribution to ensuring more sustainable travel.”

Swiss will install the new riblet film on the aircraft from mid-2022 onwards.