19 June 2007
Budget airline easyJet has revealed a new airliner design which it hopes will cut CO2 emissions by 50 percent, and will also emit less noise.
The main talking feature of the design – called the ecoJet – will be the engines. Mounted at the rear of the aircraft, they are ‘open-rotor’ engines which it is envisage will be housed in the empennage of the aircraft. The empennage will shield it from making too much noise.
What about this 50 percent cut in CO2? The airline reckons that 25 percent of this will be from using an unducted fan engine, 15 percent will be saved by using new airframe technology and the final 10 percent from improvements in air traffic control procedures.
Who would build this new design? The design has been produced by an ‘internal aeronautical team within easyJet’, and the company has spoken to both Boeing and Airbus about the project. Engine manufacturers are also in the loop. And as chief executive Andy Harrison says, “A lot of aeronautical engineering has gone into this model – this is not Star Trek technology.” The company expects that, if the design goes ahead, it could be flying by 2015.
“My biggest fear is that people, some of them in government, who either don’t understand or who won’t take the time to understand, come up with daft policy ideas,” said Harrison.
