Courtesy Emirates
The future of passenger planes: Today, commercial aircraft remain structurally similar to those of the 1960s. But with new designs such as Emirates' first class suites with virtual "windows," what might planes look like 50 years from now?
Robert Alexander/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Boeing 737: While there have been vast improvements in materials, engines and avionics, plane design hasn't changed much. In fact, the Boeing 737, one of the best-selling airliners ever in its many successive versions, flew for the first time in 1967.
Tim Matsui/Getty Images
Supersonic travel: There have been some attempts to change the aircraft design paradigm. The 1970s promised a future of supersonic travel that never really took hold, besides the limited experiences of the Concorde (pictured) and its Soviet equivalent, the Tu-144.
AFP/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Tu-144: The Tupolev Tu-144 might not be as famous as the Concorde, but it beat it to the skies twice: Its maiden flight was in December 1968 and it achieved its first supersonic flight in June 1969.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
Northrop B-2 bomber: The idea of a blended wing airliner, resembling the stealth Northrop B-2 bomber, has sometimes been touted, without much success so far.
NASA
NASA's X-57 prototype: Smaller electric motors will enable distributed propulsion like the one found in NASA's X-57 prototype and lower noise levels and operational costs will make it possible for electrical-powered aircraft to fly much closer to where people live and work.
Zunum Aero
Zunum: Zunum's hybrid-electric aircraft promises something akin to door-to-door air travel, flying quietly and economically to thousands of underused local airfields and bypassing more inefficent and often congested larger airports.
Courtesy Eviation Aircraft
Eviation: Eviation Aircraft also focuses on the short-range regional market. This Israeli startup has come up with a sleek nine-passenger, self-piloted, all-electric aircraft to operate primarily in the 100 to 600 mile range (although the aircraft will have a longer maximum range).
Courtesy Leonardo Helicopters
Leonardo AW609: Italian manufacturer Leonardo is readying the commercial launch of the revolutionary AW609 tilt-rotor helicopter, which combines elements of both helicopter and airplane design.
From Airbus
CityAirbus: A futuristic concept that Airbus is working on is CityAirbus, with a maiden flight scheduled for 2018. Just like Vahana, it's self-piloted and will be able to take off and land vertically, making it ideally suited for urban use.
courtesy Boeing
Boeing Dreamliner: Boeing's Dreamliner features larger-than-average windows. "Having some point of communication with the outside improves the passenger experience," says ACLA Studio's Victor Carlioz.
Embraer
Kyoto Airship: Embraer's Kyoto Airship also embraces the large-windowed trend.
Boom Aerospace
Boom Supersonic: Boom Supersonic, a startup that has Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator and Japan Airlines among its investors, is developing a commercial aircraft that will be expected to fly at speeds of Mach 2.2 -- with lower costs than the Concorde.
Aerion Corp.
Aerion AS2: The Aerion AS2 is another civilian supersonic aircraft project, this one aimed at the executive market. Although it's still under development, it already boasts a $2.4 billion order from fractional jet operator Flexjet for 20 of its AS2 planes, capable of flying at Mach 1.5.
Airbus/ItalDesign
Airbus Vahana: Airbus announced in November 2017 that it's ready to being flight testing on Vahana, an unmanned electrical aircraft designed to move a passenger or small cargo within urban environments.
CNN  — 

Could you drop off to sleep in a windowless plane?

It might sound like a claustrophobic’s nightmare, but a new design from Dubai-based airline Emirates plans to remove windows from aircraft.

Instead of real-life views of clouds and sky, passengers will peer out of “virtual windows,” enjoying projected views of the world passing by.

Window to the world

Emirates’ new cabins, which the company calls “game-changing” in a statement, are first-class private suites, complete with floor-to-ceiling sliding doors and high-tech features.

The “windows” use real-time fibre-optic camera technology to provide virtual views of the outside world.

Since the designs were unveiled, the airline’s choice to abandon windows has been a conversation starter in the aviation world.

Not everyone is convinced by the idea of windowless aircraft.

“Some futuristic concepts show windowless aircraft and, while there may be some structural benefits from getting rid of the windows, there is also another line of thought that says the opposite: having some point of communication with the outside improves the passenger experience,” Victor Carlioz, co-founder of California-based design studio ACLA Studio, told CNN earlier this year.

7 electric aircraft you could be flying in soon

Saj Ahmad, Chief Analyst at StrategicAero Research, points to the practical issues posed by a windowless airplane.

“Windowless airplanes would be great in an ideal world from an engineering standpoint – however, in reality, it won’t happen for a number of reasons.

“For starters, in the event of an emergency, cabin crew often need to look out for reference points to coordinate evacuations. Having visual as well as spatial awareness is vital and in a windowless jet, they don’t exist – especially if there is an electrical fault which then means that the “electric” windows do not work and you can’t see outside.”

Ahmad also echoes Carlioz’s concerns about passenger comfort.

“Passengers simply do love the natural view outside – and as good as technology is, you can’t beat what the naked eye sees,” he tells CNN.

Ahmad also posits a move towards windowless planes would involve new regulation and testing.

“There are also regulatory issues too – the level of change involved would certainly require new tests relating to system redundancy, evacuation, fire suppression as well as pressurization and other stress-related engineering changes.”

What will passenger planes look like in 2068?

Other alternatives

What air travel might look like in 2068: Will the passenger planes of the future continue the look of the past 50 years or will there be whole new designs? Here are some of the concepts which might catch on.
Electric dreams: Most short-haul flying is likely to go electric within the next few decades. Lower noise levels and operational costs will make it possible for electrical-powered aircraft to fly much closer to where people live and work.
Taxis: Flying taxis will become a reality very soon. Eventually they could be integrated into the air travel experience, so tasks like luggage check-in and identity verification via biometrics could be completed on board in advance.
Flying wing: "The emergence of electrical aircraft will lead to new fuselage designs that can accommodate passenger needs much better," says ACLA Studio's Victor Carlioz. Some futuristic concepts feature windowless aircraft which recall the flying wing.
Blended Wing Body: The advantages of a Blended Wing Body (BWB) fixed-wing aircraft include lower noise and increased fuel efficiency.
Window to the future: However, adds Carlioz, "While there may be some structural benefits from getting rid of the windows, there is also another line of thought that says the opposite: having some point of communication with the outside improves the passenger experience."

Other futuristic aircraft design are going the opposite way and embracing larger windows.

Boeing’s Dreamliner – its most modern clean sheet design – features large windows. Airbus has also designed a cabin with transparent walls, presented at the 2011 Paris Air Show.

Embraer has devised the Kyoto cabin, designed for its Lineage 1000E aircraft, which features large panoramic windows running along the majority of the lateral walls of the cabin.

There could also be a move towards pilotless planes in the future – but Ahmad applies his skepticism about windowless planes to drone-flown planes too:

“The idea [of windowless planes] is possible – that doesn’t mean it will happen,” says Ahmad. “The same applies with drone technology – but that doesn’t mean that tomorrow we’re suddenly going to see all freighter airplanes being flown without pilots.”