IAG Invests In Mako As Riblets Move Toward Certification

International Airlines Group has invested in Mako and plans to flight-test the Australian startup’s drag-reducing riblet film this year on an aircraft operated by one of its airlines.

Sydney-based Mako, formerly MicroTau, has closed an AU$28 million ($20 million) Series A founding round led by Virescent Ventures with participation by International Airlines Group (IAG). The funding will be used to scale up production of Mako’s Flightfilm riblet coating.

Investing through its IAGi Ventures arm, the airline group says it plans to test the technology at one of its airlines this year, “with the potential to scale across others.”

In May 2025, Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling Airlines, an IAG airline operating an all-Airbus A320 fleet, signed a letter of intent with Mako to become the first European customer and to support certification of Flightfilm with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

Mako is working with Jetstar Airways to certify Flightfilm on the A320 in Australia, with funding support from the federal and New South Wales governments. The startup is also partnered with Delta Air Lines to test the drag-reducing technology on the Boeing 767.

Already flight tested with the U.S. Air Force on the Lockheed Martin C-130, and with operational trials planned on the Boeing C-17 airlifter, Mako projects fuel savings of up to 4% on a commercial aircraft depending on the surface area treated, route profile and operating conditions.

Flightfilm is an adhesive-backed plastic film covered in microscopic longitudinal grooves that reduce skin-friction drag. Mako has received an AU$3 million Australian government grant to develop a high-output roll-to-roll manufacturing capability and pursue certification of Flightfilm and its production facility.

Lufthansa Technic and BASF have developed a riblet film, called AeroShark, that has been applied to 30 Boeing 777s to date. The companies are working on supplemental type certification in the film on the fuselage and nacelles of the A330ceo and in May announced an agreement with Airbus to extend the application to the aircraft’s wing and stabilizers.

In Japan, a riblet coating applied using a paint-to-paint process developed by O-Well and Nikon with Japan Airlines (JAL) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has been flight tested on a JAL Boeing 737-800 and 787-9 as well as a 787-8 operated by its international low-cost subsidiary ZipAir.