Easyjet paint job makes fuel bills less of a drag

[Nigelinoz]

Interesting article from the BBC website,wonder if the likes of Tiger,DJ,JQ will do it.
BBC News - Easyjet paint job makes fuel bills less of a drag

Easyjet, one of Europe's largest airlines, thinks it has found a way to save even more money using a technology you cannot even see: a new paint job. From Monday, it will be the first commercial airline to trial what it calls a "revolutionary nano-technology coating"

Cheers
N'oz

 

[straitman]

Interesting article from the BBC website,wonder if the likes of Tiger,DJ,JQ will do it.
BBC News - Easyjet paint job makes fuel bills less of a drag

Cheers
N'oz

This type of technology has been around in various forms for quite a few years.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Yeah the article mentions that the US military have been using it for years,the question that comes to my mind is if drag effects fuel consumption by the amount claimed then what sort of effect would sticking decals on an aircraft,as DJ and Jetstar have done recently have on their fuel bill,expecially in times of increased fuel costs?.
Cheers
N'oz

 

[straitman]

Yeah the article mentions that the US military have been using it for years,the question that comes to my mind is if drag effects fuel consumption by the amount claimed then what sort of effect would sticking decals on an aircraft,as DJ and Jetstar have done recently have on their fuel bill,expecially in times of increased fuel costs?.
Cheers
N'oz

The short answer is LOTS.

I guess they consider the PR value outweighs the extra fuel used.

 

[Happy Trails]

Interesting item from Boeing on the subject:



Painting versus Polishing of Airplane Exterior Surfaces

 

[ButFli]

Yeah the article mentions that the US military have been using it for years,the question that comes to my mind is if drag effects fuel consumption by the amount claimed then what sort of effect would sticking decals on an aircraft,as DJ and Jetstar have done recently have on their fuel bill,expecially in times of increased fuel costs?.
Cheers
N'oz

Apparently the extra paint used on Wunulla Dreaming reduces its range from that of a standard 747-400ER to more like a standard 747-400. I think that has more to do with the extra weight than increased drag though. Still, it shows that airlines are prepared to cop extra fuel burn for promotional purposes.

 

[opusman]

The first couple of space shuttle launches had a white-painted external tank, dropping the paint job apparently saved 272 Kg (Space Shuttle external tank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), and a 747 is bigger than that, so the weight wouldn't be completely insignificant.