Photo: Airbus
No more social media posts and photos of the clouds and the sun setting, seen from inside a plane – future passenger aircraft will have no windows. This is one of the major current trends in aviation, and it’s not to take something away from us but to help planes become more sustainable and cost-effective.
While considerable effort is dedicated to testing alternative fuels and hybrid propulsion systems, another important element in making aircraft sustainable is reconsidering the way they are designed. A plane’s overall weight has a much more significant impact on fuel consumption than we might think.
According to Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Avia Solutions, for every 1% reduction in weight, 0.75% of the fuel is saved. Conversely, every passenger’s laptop or even phone results in weight-related additional costs for airline companies – this is what a 2018 MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) study found.
With this in mind, removing aircraft windows is one of the design changes that could have a major impact on fuel consumption. If there’s no need to integrate windows, planes could be made out of much lighter materials while also increasing the fuselage’s durability.
But does this mean that visual access to the outside world would completely disappear? No, it will only become indirect. Exterior-mounted cameras will project outside images on large, high-resolution LED screens. The advanced technology would allow passengers to switch between various views or even take a look at their final destination.
There is a potential downside to this, and it concerns flight attendants, who require a great deal of what is known as situational awareness in case of an emergency. Technical mishaps could have a serious impact in such cases, so it’s important to make sure that the right technology is developed in due time.
So far, the benefits in terms of reduced CO2 emissions and costs seem to outweigh potential safety concerns. Major aerospace developers, such as Airbus, have already introduced new-generation planes that are fuel and cost-efficient, but windowless aircraft are expected to be truly groundbreaking and transformative. Until then, enjoy the view from your plane window while you still can.
According to Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Avia Solutions, for every 1% reduction in weight, 0.75% of the fuel is saved. Conversely, every passenger’s laptop or even phone results in weight-related additional costs for airline companies – this is what a 2018 MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) study found.
With this in mind, removing aircraft windows is one of the design changes that could have a major impact on fuel consumption. If there’s no need to integrate windows, planes could be made out of much lighter materials while also increasing the fuselage’s durability.
But does this mean that visual access to the outside world would completely disappear? No, it will only become indirect. Exterior-mounted cameras will project outside images on large, high-resolution LED screens. The advanced technology would allow passengers to switch between various views or even take a look at their final destination.
There is a potential downside to this, and it concerns flight attendants, who require a great deal of what is known as situational awareness in case of an emergency. Technical mishaps could have a serious impact in such cases, so it’s important to make sure that the right technology is developed in due time.
So far, the benefits in terms of reduced CO2 emissions and costs seem to outweigh potential safety concerns. Major aerospace developers, such as Airbus, have already introduced new-generation planes that are fuel and cost-efficient, but windowless aircraft are expected to be truly groundbreaking and transformative. Until then, enjoy the view from your plane window while you still can.
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