Glass-walled planes. Robot-stafed hotels. Ultra-long-haul lights travelling at supersonic speeds. And, of course, that inal frontier: space. Predictions for the future of travel are some of the most colourful in the business, but how do we work out what’s a real possibility, and what’s supersonic pie in the sky?
Travel will have to change by necessity, of course — and that will largely be led by global warming. The destinations we want to visit will change — sometimes drastically — and with carbon emissions needing to be stemmed, it’s highly likely legislation will be introduced that will mean aviation as we know it is no longer sustainable. What’s more, an ever-increasing demand for travel will come up against a inite number of slots and runways at hub airports.
To sort the wheat of likelihood from the chaf of speculation, we asked experts across major sectors of the industry how they think we’ll be travelling in 20 years’ time. A lot will change, it turns out — though it may not be as glamorous as you were hoping.