Gone are the days when flying was reserved for the select few.

Affordable air travel has made it easy for just about anyone to book a flight and reach their destination in a fraction of the time that it would take to drive or sail.

To keep up with demand, aviation is constantly advancing and as new technology is discovered, it improves and innovates the entire process.

The Telegraph describes these rapid changes as “an air travel revolution”, and names 18 ways the revolution will lead us.

Let’s take a look at where the experts think we’ll be in a few decades time, but focus on seven that stand out.

No More Passports

This could actually become a reality sooner than you think.

Aviation technology experts say that roughly eight out of 10 airports are planning to install biometric ID management systems, allowing passengers to board planes using their face as proof of identity.

The technology is already being trialled at London Heathrow, Los Angeles International and Orlando, to name just three, with the aim being to do away with the need for passports and boarding passes and allow airlines to turn planes round for departure in record times.

British workers are also already implanting microchips that can open doors and act as employee IDs. How long before you can’t fly without a chip?

Space Travel

In May, Richard Branson said that Virgin Galactic was “two or three more flights” away from getting to space. He said that he would be one of the first to take the trip, before opening the voyages up to paying customers.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has already announced that he wants to take a group of creative thinkers on a space holiday in the SpaceX Big Falcon Spaceship.

Point is, despite the delays, flying could mean leaving the planet in the not so distant future.

Standing Room Only

Anyone who has been on a crowded bus or train on a hot day knows that this one sounds like a special kind of hell.

Vertical seating – or “bar stools with seat belts”, as Ryanair dubbed them – was originally touted by Airbus in 2003. The idea was then developed by Italian firm Aviointeriors, which in April released its second incarnation of the Skyrider.

Skyrider 2.0 has more cushioning than its predecessor, weighs 50 per cent less than standard plane seats and allows 20 per cent more people into the cabin.

Sounds awful. Not keen.

Supersonic Flight

Concorde did it first, but they aren’t alone in reviving supersonic flight.

This week Lockheed Martin began production on its X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft, backed by Nasa, and hoping to be in the air for test flights by 2021. It will cruise at 55,000 feet at a speed of 940mph.

Virgin Atlantic, Japan Airlines and Spike Aerospace are also working on supersonic air travel.

Flying on Mustard Seeds

Every year, as global warming becomes more and more apparent, the aviation industry comes under scrutiny for their contribution to air pollution. As a result, some airlines are switching to biofuel.

Qantas, Virgin Atlantic and SpiceJet are just three airlines ot have flown planes using biofuel this year. Qantas flew the world’s first such flight in January when 10 per cent of the fuel needed for a flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne was derived from mustard seeds, reducing carbon emissions by 7 per cent.

Very cool.

More Turbulence

It’s a good thing that more airlines are switching to biofuel because climate change is getting so bad that turbulence is going to become more and more commonplace on flights.

A recent study found that the jet stream winds along the flight route between London and New York are getting stronger because of climate change and are 15 per cent stronger in winter. This increase in the jet stream winds is expected to create more turbulence.

By 2050, instances of turbulence are expected to rise three-fold – bad news for nervous flyers (and everyone in the standing section of the plane).

Pilotless Planes

This one will probably only be possible in the next 50 years, but it looks like there’s a move to reduce the number of human pilots from two (or more) to one.

Airlines are currently required by law to have at least two crew in the flight deck, but groups such as Nasa are looking into whether it could be possible to reduce numbers in the cockpit.

Perhaps the largest obstacle to commercial flights having just one pilot would be public opinion. It is not unheard of for one of the flight crew to fall ill during a flight and if anything were to happen to a plane with just one person on-board who knew how to fly, it is unlikely widespread change would happen in the industry no matter the technology.

Still, experts are convinced that pilotless planes are going to be a thing at some point over the course of the century.

So there you have it – a lot to look forward to, or alternately dread with regards to the future of aviation.

The only thing that’s certain is that things are definitely changing.

[source:telegraph]