Flaps, for example leading edge flaps and/or trailing edge flaps of an aircraft wing, are driven and adjusted by respective drive units. Drive shafts of neighboring flaps are coupled to each other by a differential gear. The differential gear is thus coupled to a main drive shaft which is driven by a main drive unit. Additionally, the differential gear is coupled to a secondary drive unit. The main drive power and the secondary drive power and thus the respective flap motions are super-imposable on each other, which permits operating the flaps independently of each other or in synchronism with each other.