High up in the clouds, out of sight for the majority of those on the ground, there is a complex world of air traffic which few people, other than pilots, scientists and air traffic controllers, understand. Fortunately for the masses, SESAR, the body responsible for the Single European Sky and general air traffic management research [...]

How could you travel 1,500 miles away without using fossil fuel? It would be an incredibly long trip on foot, or by bicycle, and that’s without thinking about crossing water. The answer to this question is in fact, by airplane. Betrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the Swiss pilots and pioneers of the Solar Impulse are [...]

In light of the announcements in aircraft design, biofuel production, and air traffic management implementation made recently, with three major developments at the 6th Aviation and Environment Summit alone, advances in futuristic ideas for aviation are appearing in abundance. There seems to be an exponential curve characterising technology, and the following are spectacular examples. The [...]

Industry collaboration is the key to efficient Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems according to CANSO and Boeing at the 6th Aviation and Environment Summit. Despite the current high level of optimized Air Traffic Management there is more capacity and efficiency to be had from the current advanced ATM systems in place.  This call out to [...]

Navigating the most efficient course is not limited to Air Traffic Controllers and pilots in the aviation industry. Equally efficiency is not limited to the fuel burnt by aircraft or ground vehicles, to paperless tickets and flight decks, to building new runways and airports, and the copious other sectors associated with aviation. It is an [...]

What is I-4D? – despite the name, it is not the latest craze for cinema goers, but is in fact the culmination of a smart new air traffic management technology delivered by SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) with the help of Airbus, Eurocontrol, Honeywell, Indra, Noracon1, and Thales. February 10, 2012, was [...]

Having already spoken on NASA’s activities with Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman recently, NASA have released further information on their N+3 and N+4 prototypes and technologies (the term ‘N+3’, denoting three generations beyond the current commercial transport fleet). Phase one of the N+3 concepts were completed in 2010, and have been used as a bed [...]

Richard Branson, the international entrepreneur and founder of the Carbon War Room, an organization with a mission to fight emissions, recently upped the ante by adding to Virgin Atlantic’s current aim of 30% carbon reductions per passenger kilometer by 2020, to 50% sustainable fuel use by 2020. In October 2011, Virgin Atlantic, LanzaTech Biofuels, and [...]

Consider the changes undergone in aviation since the commercial use of jet aircraft began at the end of the 1950’s, and it is easy to see the progression in aircraft shape and design, let alone fuel efficiency. Today jet aircraft are over 70% more fuel efficient per seat kilometre than those of the 1960’s, and [...]

Electricity has become a formidable opponent to fossil fuels in recent times as it reaches into copious areas of development in technology. Its employment is welcomed with open arms by the environmentally conscientious for its reduced carbon footprint and silent work. Taking these characteristics into account leaves little else to be explained with regards as [...]