Part of the fun of flying is spotting landmarks on the ground as you rapidly gain altitude until the sprawling towns and cities below become a mere dot on the landscape. You might even spot your own house.
But that may become a thing of the past if the windowless plane becomes a reality.
The British research company The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is working on technologies that it says will deliver the windowless plane in the next 10 years.
It may sound like flying inside a tomb, however, CPI envisages it to be quite the opposite.
The idea is that ultra thin, light display screens replace the windows to reduce the weight of the aircraft, and in turn make financial savings.
“Weight is a constant issue on any aircraft,” CPI said in a report. “Over 80 per cent of the fully laden weight of a commercial airliner is the aircraft itself and its fuel. For every 1 per cent reduction in weight, the approximate fuel saving is 0.75 per cent.”
Huge OLED screens could be used to line the entire passenger cabin, providing images or lighting to help to combat jet lag with colour changes to mark sunset and sunrise.
CPI said that images could be relayed from a series of cameras mounted on the fuselage, “potentially giving each display an uninterrupted view of the exterior”.
The company has released an updated video and images of the concept, but will it fly?
ioxborrow@thenational.ae
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