Bid to speed up air travel stuck in long-haul

It is 10 years since Concorde ended its commercial air services across the Atlantic.

Both British Airways and Air France operated daily flights each way that took less than four hours to make the crossing. But since then, has air travel become more or less consumer friendly?

If you want to fly over the pond, it can take between six and eight hours, despite the advances made in technology and engine propulsion since 2003. In a world where time is ever more valued, the need for speed seems to have waned.

None of the aircraft manufacturers appear to have serious programmes proposing supersonic aircraft and, more importantly, none of the world’s leading airlines appear to be demanding it.

This is best exemplified by pilot training in Shannon at present. In the 1980s, both BA and Air France used Shannon to train their Concorde flight crews. Just last month, the same airport was used by Thomson Airlines to train up pilots on brand new Boeing 787s.

The 787 is the newest commercial aircraft on the planet and is packed with aerodynamic and technological marvels that vastly improve its engine efficiency, flight performance and passenger cabin experience.

Airlines love it because it promises to cut the operating costs of long haul flights by about 15% compared to existing equipment. Yet, the 787 will not materially cut transatlantic flight times.

High-end business travellers paid enormous sums of money to take Concorde on the key London-New York route because it gave them huge time advantages.

Today, these type of air passengers fly on a BA flight that uses the old Concorde code 001. Yet that flight is operated by an Airbus A320 (like those used by Aer Lingus on short-haul) but is reconfigured to have 32 seats (compared to 180 seats). It flies through Shannon on its westbound leg to refuel and clear customs but, again, the flight time can be up to twice that of what Concorde offered a decade ago.

Aircraft innovation is usually driven by customer demand. In the 1930s, Juan Trippe, head of Pan American Airways (later PanAm), badgered aircraft manufacturers to develop faster, bigger and more comfortable aircraft. That produced the magnificent Boeing 314 Flying Boat which initiated Atlantic flights by using Foynes in Co Limerick.

More recently, the demands from leading airline executives do not prioritise speed but instead seek range, capacity and efficiency gains. Emirates, for example, has been instrumental in the development of Boeing’s Big Twin Boeing 777. It too flies at subsonic speeds.

Supersonic commercial air services will only develop if:

* Engine technology progresses enough to deliver power and fuel efficiency with noise levels on a par or better than existing aircraft;

* A cabin large enough to take enough passengers producing a sustainable profit for airlines is possible;

* Clear evidence that environmental effects will be no greater than current aircraft; nDevelopment costs can be recouped through an extended life cycle for the jet.

Air travel demand is growing inexorably due to emerging market growth, GDP expansion and lower real fares. At the same time, long haul flight demand is expanding as more cities around the world are being connected by developed and developing airlines.

That marketplace is unable to accelerate the speed at which these cities can be linked. An aircraft manufacturer and airline that could, for example, halving the trip from London to Sydney or from New York to Tokyo, would find a rich seam of passenger demand.

It will take people with a huge risk appetite to make it happen and would require at least 10 years of development. So, who has the bottle to predict that average flight times in 2023 could get back to what Concorde offered in 2003?

* Joe Gill is a director of corporate broking with Goodbody Stockbrokers