Planes of the future could drop passengers off 'at their door'

Updated
Planes of the future could drop passengers off 'at their door'
Planes of the future could drop passengers off 'at their door'

The future of planes? Photo: PA


Making your way home bleary-eyed from the airport is often the most tedious part of holidaying abroad, so how about catching a flight that drops you off 'at your door'.

OK, maybe your grandchildren will have to enjoy it on your behalf, but aviation plans have revealed it could be a reality by 2075.

In a plan to put UK aviation at the forefront of aerospace innovation, a report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineering revealed plans for a 'Scramjet' that could travel at five times the speed of sound, making a trip from London to New York possible in one hour.

And the passenger door-to-door idea has been described as 'a sort of Ark Royal for the skies'.

The report also looked to commercial aircraft flying in a V-shaped formation to save power by taking advantage of the airflow generated by the plane in front and the 'aircraft carrier' system in which a large aircraft carries individual units that can be released over a destination and float down to the designated area where the passenger needs to go.

A beach in Barbados? The Golden Gate Bridge ? Victoria Falls? The sky's the limit!

IME chief executive Stephen Tetlow told the Associated Press: 'Now is the time for industry and Government to focus on sectors that can help lift the country's economy.

'The UK aerospace sector already employs over 100,000 people around the country and is worth over £29 billion a year to our economy, but we need to take action now to ensure this sector can continue to thrive and grow.

'There is great potential for new UK aerospace technologies, but in order to compete with emerging nations, we need to set up a strategic vision for UK aerospace, establish a new dedicated aerospace research body and restore research and development funding to pre-recession levels.'

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