Tiny change to Australian planes could save industry $61 billion

Australia’s aviation industry could save tens of billions of dollars with the smallest of changes made possible by a tech start-up’s genius invention.

Australia’s aviation industry could save tens of billions of dollars with the smallest of changes made possible by a tech start-up’s genius invention.

Sydney-based MicroTau founder Henry Bilinsky said microscopic “sharkskin” stickers could be printed and applied to aircraft to reduce drag by as much as 12 per cent.

Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, Mr Bilinsky said “riblets” mimic the tiny scales on sharks that allow them to glide through the water.

He said the fuel cost savings could be astronomical, with the AFR calculating potential savings for the industry could sit around $61 billion per year. That combined with the reduction in carbon emissions makes the product very attractive for the airline industry.

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An Airbus A350-1000 flies over Sydney Harbour. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

That’s why Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation just dug deep, investing $2 million in MicroTau as the start-up refines its product offering.

According to MicroTau’s website, the company showcased what it could do in 2015 when the US Air Force held a global competition asking for solutions to improve fuel efficiency for transport aircraft.

“MicroTau founder Henry Bilinsky proposed the Direct Contactless Microfabrication (DCM) technology as a scalable method to print drag-reducing shark skin ‘riblet’ microstructures for this application,” the website said.

“Out of 296 global applicants, a committee including NASA, the US Federal Aviation Administration, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Atomics and Northrop Grumman selected Henry’s proposal and MicroTau was founded.”

Mr Bilinsky has gone on to win a number of significant contracts with the US Air Force.

“We are working with organisations worldwide to bring these efficiencies to aerospace and shipping applications to save billions of dollars in fuel and hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2, annually,” Mr Bilinsky said.

MicroTau founder Henry Bilinsky says he could save the Australian airline industry billions of dollars with a simple tech solution. Picture: Saeed Khan/AFP

Flight costs have been soaring because of the price of fuel in 2022.

The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) shows some airfares have jumped as much as 112 per cent from before the pandemic.

Speaking in March, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said fares will go up by 7 per cent but could go higher as airlines account for increased oil and fuel costs.

“[Hedging] gives us time to react to that higher fuel price,” he said.

“Unfortunately, if we stay at these levels, airfares are going to have to go up, we’re going to have to pass them on.”