Sub orbital flight, solar powered planes, drone airliners – these could all become fixtures of the aviation industry by 2050, say experts.
These visions of a flying future were laid out during a conversation hosted on Twitter by CNN to coincide with the Le Bourget Airshow in Paris.
In it, CNN’s Thom Patterson put questions to Bertrand Piccard, pilot of Solar Impulse; Chris Daniels, head of communications at Hybrid Air Vehicles; Brett Snyder, consumer air travel blogger The Cranky Flier and Tim Robinson, editor in chief of Aerospace, all of whom provided unique insights into the world of flight.
Aviation enthusiasts from around the world also had their say.
So how will we fly in 2050? Here’s a roundup of what we can expect.
Thinking big is thinking green
It’s got to be green say the experts:
There are some skeptics within the flight community who say green solutions will never make it to commercial flight:
Our panel argued, however, that carbon neutral aviation is far from impossible:
Piccard backed up his argument with stats:
Daniels believes that the implementation of green technology will be the best way to affect change:
Hopes for an overhaul in commercial flight
Solutions ranged from increasing comfort …
… to decreasing the time spent in the air:
And Piccard believes green energy will come to commercial flight sooner than we think:
Daniels decried our need for speed:
While Snyder cut out the need for flight altogether:
A new generation of tech is on the horizon
We have a whole host of new materials and production techniques waiting to be integrated into aviation manufacturing:
But there are still some problems that have yet to find a solution:
Drones will have a part to play
That shouldn’t be an issue according to Daniels:
And their usage will become increasingly diverse:
Although unmanned passenger planes are still a long way off:
The ubiquity of drones will not come without its downsides according to Piccard:
The jury’s out on whether we’ll go supersonic or hypersonic
Although there are other issues that, once overcome, might help bring them to life:
There may however be a market for supersonic within the private jet sector:
But their could be ethical issues if efficiency remains the same:
Known unknowns
The experts are optimistic, because there are whole areas aviation has yet to explore:
But the industry needs wholesale change for their vision of 2050 to come about:
How many of our experts’ predictions come true remains to be seen.
CNN Travel’s Twitter chat was run to coincide with the opening day of the Paris Air Show 2015, held at Le Bourget Airport between June 15-21. Click here to read more of CNN’s coverage of the event.
