Just a few years ago, hardly anyone thought about what could be done with a discarded product. Whether it's a piece of clothing that you no longer like or an aging airplane, a lot hasn't been recycled. In the meantime, "upcycling" has become a real fashion trend that does not stop at aviation.

The Japanese airline ANA triggered a hype about simple slippers made from seat covers. Despite the not exactly cheap purchase price, the demand was so great that the purchase rights had to be won in a competition. The “slippers” weren’t available for free because you had to be drawn at random in order to even be allowed to buy them. This is certainly an extreme example, but upcycled products from the aviation industry are generally becoming increasingly popular.

Since a large number of different materials are used in commercial aircraft, the range of options for breathing a second life into them is extremely large. There are few things that cannot be done. Creativity and, of course, a bit of a feel for what collectors and other potential buyers value so much are in demand. An Austrian start-up founded by pilots is also active in the aviation upcycling business. For example, some interesting products have been generated from components of the OE-LAW, a former Boeing 767-300ER from Lauda Air and Austrian Airlines. It actually sounds very simple to make a key fob out of a piece of fuselage of a long-haul aircraft, for example, but only in theory.

The challenge for the team of the Austrian start-up Aircrafttag begins with the search for suitable "raw material". Decommissioned commercial aircraft often change owners before they are scrapped, and there is a good reason for this: Even if the machine is still airworthy, it is often the case that the individual parts, primarily for obtaining spare parts, are more valuable. Certified used parts are in great demand on the market because they can sometimes be obtained faster than new from the factory, especially when it comes to an older model. What's left after "slaughtering" is recycled, disposed of or fed into so-called upcycling. This is exactly where the challenge lies: You never know exactly which parts of the outer skin you will get when and in what condition they actually are. As is well known, scrapping is not exactly squeamish, because scratches and dents are definitely no longer important - at least not for the scrapping and recycling company.

The Austrian company Aircrafttag, for example, purchased fuselage parts from the former OE-LAW from a recycler in England. These were then brought back to Austria and given the chance of a second life with aviation enthusiasts. For example, personalized key rings and table coasters were made from the original fuselage parts. Aluminum, paint and any signs of wear from regular service - all original. But it is precisely the varnish that makes it particularly challenging, because you have to proceed very slowly and carefully when engraving, otherwise it will smolder away. Skill, patience and good technique are required.

Ralph Wansch and his pilot colleague Stranz, who created Aircrafttag, fly full-time in the cockpit of the Lufthansa Group. Both are aviation professionals through and through and can hardly imagine pursuing any other profession. While Stranz has the organizational talent and he has already been able to bring all sorts of interesting parts from decommissioned aircraft to Austria, it is Wansch who, for example, makes coasters and key rings with engravings from aluminum fuselage parts in the workshop. He says jokingly about his pilot colleague Stranz: "Patrik, during the day captain on the A330, he tries everything to get his aircraft and his guests unharmed, for example from Frankfurt to Mauritius, at night he looks for ways to dismantle retired aircraft as efficiently as possible".

And how does he describe his colleague Wansch? "Ralph, captain on the A320 traveling all over Europe during the day, at night with heavy respiratory protection and a power cutter dismantling aircraft". Every upcycling product from Aircrafttag is therefore a one-off that was made by Ralph Wansch personally, because as a small startup you don’t have a large production team. But that is exactly what the captain is proud of, because the high quality standards he has in the cockpit also apply to the upcycling products. Nothing leaves his workshop unless he is completely satisfied and has passed the counter-check by colleague Stranz.

According to the two upcyclers, there are some challenges in production. For example, fuselage parts are almost never completely straight, because airplanes are built round and not square boxes. From this it follows that the extraction of the “raw material” already requires a great deal of skill, because nothing that can be used to make something should end up in the scrap heap unnecessarily. Once the "blanks" are ready, it's time for engraving. As already indicated: commercial aircraft usually have paint on the “outer skin” to protect the aluminum underneath. The older the machine, the thicker the layer can be. Therein lies a challenge, because if you try to make the laser engraving too quickly, it won't work. The paint starts to stew and in the end it would be a mixture of stench and a "something" that just doesn't look nice.

Wansch told Aviation.Direct that it took him a few tries before he came up with the ideal process for manufacturing high-quality products. There were certainly one or two setbacks, but persistence, patience and the willingness to try out new processes have paid off. The accuracy is impressive, because even the small windows on the engraved aircraft are completely error-free and exact. One is not only proud of this, but collectors in particular appreciate it very much.

Incidentally, the first project tackled was the upcycling of a former Wamos-Air Boeing 747. In the meantime, around a dozen different former "airliners" have been processed into tags, coasters and much more. Experience has been gained so far with aircraft from Airbus, Boeing and ATR. A special feature is currently being worked on: the two pilots managed to get hold of fuselage parts from a Boeing 747 that was last flying for British Airways. This will result in a number of products, whereby every upcycling product will also be individual here, because every piece of "sheet metal" is unique and it will then become a unique product again. Only what Stranz and Wansch can no longer produce from, for example because the raw material is too small, is handed over to the local scrap metal dealer for regular recycling.

In the meantime, some airlines have also become aware of the talent of the two pilots and are going a "different way". For example, Miles & More, which operates the World Shop, sent fuselage parts from decommissioned aircraft to Wansch and Stranz and immediately ordered a whole range of products for the Lufthansa Upcycling Collection. These were sold to Miles & More members and aviation fans on worldshop.eu and were so popular that they were completely sold out after a very short time. This phenomenon was repeated and other carriers have already made the "upcycling made in Austria by pilots" useful for their employees and customers. In the future, airlines such as Lufthansa will also be able to buy tags and the like for the two pilots on board. Preparations are in full swing. This is intended to appeal to completely new customer groups, because spontaneity also plays a decisive role, especially for collectors, enthusiasts and people who simply want to have a unique piece.

In the coming months, the two pilots want to offer numerous other upcycling products. It is also possible to order items made to order. There are almost no limits to creativity.