The International Airlines Group, an airline holding group also known in short as IAG whose brands include Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Level, and Vueling, has been listed among the partners who have invested in Australian aerospace company MAKO. The firm’s flagship product is known as Flightfilm, and, based on the aerodynamic qualities of shark skin, it looks to reduce drag on aircraft.

In recent years, as the commercial aviation sector continues its push to make the industry more sustainable, shark skin-inspired films have become one of the most interesting ways in which airlines have looked to reduce their emissions. Indeed, similar initiatives on this front have already been undertaken by the likes of Lufthansa. As for IAG, one of its member airlines is set to test Flightfilm later this year.

IAG Invests In MAKO

Credit: MAKO

MAKO, the Australian aerospace technology company that was formerly known as MicroTau, announced earlier today that it had amassed AU$28 million (US$20 million) in Series A investment in order to get its Flightfilm product certified and scaled up. Among the most notable of its new external partners is IAG, which, through IAGi Ventures, is, as MAKO says, “backing a single aviation efficiency technology.”

The parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Level, and Vueling, confirmed today that it “plans to test Flightfilm with one of its airlines later this year.” The group went on to say that it “gives IAG early access to a technology with potential to scale across its airlines, helping reduce fuel burn, lower operating costs, and support emissions reductions across aircraft already in service.” MAKO adds:

“It is exciting to have IAGi Ventures as a key strategic investor. (…) MAKO will be leveraging [its] expertise from ground operations to airworthiness to ensure Flightfilm meets all airline customer needs.”

Lufthansa Is Among The Other Airlines To Have Trialed Such Technology

Credit: MAKO

Shark skin-inspired riblet technology products, such as MAKO’s Flightfilm, have long been at the forefront of modern aviation research when it comes to reducing emissions by decreasing drag. For instance, Simple Flying reported in 2022 that Lufthansa Technik had teamed up with SWISS International Air Lines to fit all 12 of the carrier’s Boeing 777-300ERs with a similar film. This was known as aeroSHARK.

By May 2024, all of these aircraft had received their upgrades, resulting in 2,000 tonnes of annual fuel savings. Lufthansa itself has also reaped the rewards of this research, with the German flag carrier fitting four Boeing 777F widebody twinjet freighters from its cargo division with shark skin exteriors by October of 2023. More recently, last year saw it seek approval to deploy aeroSHARK on older Airbus A330s.

Elsewhere, Simple Flying also reported in 2025 that Delta Air Lines was set to begin testing shark skin riblets from MicroTau, as MAKO was then known, on its Boeing 767s. The genius of this technology is that it mimics shark skin to give jets the same aerodynamic qualities that help sharks move so swiftly and smoothly through the water. Delta’s Sustainable Skies Lab helped to bring these benefits to life.

More About MAKO

Credit: MAKO

MAKO was founded in 2016 by CEO Henry Bilinsky. The aerospace efficiency technology firm is based in the Australian city of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, and it is targeting both airlines and military operators with its shark skin-inspired Flightfilm product. The firm asserts that “Flightfilm can deliver up to 4% efficiency gains, translating to meaningful fuel savings and emissions reductions.”

IAG’s aforementioned choice of vocabulary seems to give little away in terms of which airline will be used in its Flightfilm trial. However, a little digging shows that, last month, Aviation Week highlighted the fact that Vueling’s A320s would be getting drag-reducing riblet treatment from, as the firm was then known, MicroTau. It will certainly be interesting to see how the shark skin-inspired technology pays off for them.