Could flocks of planes reduce emissions?

Aviation giant Airbus is planning to launch an emission-reducing scheme which would see planes flying like birds in formation.

This would ensure that more passengers reach popular destinations at one time.

Plane flocks are just one part of Airbus' plans, which could see the flying world revolutionised by 2050, with holidaymakers seeing a whole host of changes to their flight.

Its ambitious schemes include steeper take-offs to reduce journey times and gentler, glide-in landings to improve noise problems and emissions.

Shorter flights would lead to a saving of more than 28 million tonnes of avoidable C02 emissions a year as well as the saving of five million flying hours.

Airbus recognises the ever-growing need to become more environmentally aware and it has acted on this by inventing its very own future concept.

"In the future, as more people travel by air, the air transport sector will need to achieve further significant step changes while keeping air travel comfortable and affordable – and also achieving the aviation industry’s goal of halving carbon emissions by 2050," Airbus says on its website.

Airbus' ambitions do not end there. Engineers have plans to make even the plane seats environmentally friendly by "morphing seats made from ecological, self-cleaning materials which change shape for a snug fit".

It is not only becoming green that interests Airbus, it wants to become a pioneer in its field, with ideas such as "walls that become see-through at the touch of a button, affording 360-degree views of the world below".

Airbus takes the challenge of reducing emissions very seriously, and it has a strict plan in place to change the future of aircrafts by 2050.

"Our engineers are continuously encouraged to think widely and come up with 'disruptive' ideas which will assist our industry in meeting the 2050 targets we have signed up to," Airbus engineering executive vice president Charles Champion said.

Posted by Joseph Hutton