Shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluids find application across diverse sectors including chemical processing, wastewater treatment, and the food industry. Nevertheless, dealing with and transporting these fluids, which frequently exhibit elevated viscosities, poses notable obstacles within these industrial contexts. A promising remedy to mitigate the challenges associated with pumping such fluids involves the adoption of airlift pump technology. Despite this potential solution, the utilization of airlift pumps for these specific applications lacks comprehensive assessment in existing literature. This study thus aims to empirically examine the operational efficacy of airlift pumps when tasked with handling non-Newtonian fluids. Furthermore, a machine vision technique is developed and validated experimentally as a new measurement technique, to determine hydrodynamic parameters that can aid in the characterization of the two-phase flow pattern and void fraction determination in the airlift pump.