Passenger aircraft will land at sea in the future

In the future, seaplane will replace traditional aircraft, transporting 200-2,000 passengers across the sea without fear of congestion or noise pollution.

Prospect of passenger aircraft landing at sea

Dr Erikos Levis, a research fellow at the Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, said that the seaplane was the solution to the two biggest problems of the modern aviation sector: airport congestion and noise pollution. .

Marine aircraft designed by Dr. Levis. (Graphics: Imperial College London)

"We can use floatation to reduce noise from residential areas and reduce the need to build large infrastructure, " Levis said. He is the co-author of a potential research on the development of seaplanes as a future passenger aircraft .

Along with Professor Varnavas Serghides, Levis is designing a seaplane capable of carrying 200-2,000 passengers anywhere.

"The development of seaplane has long been halted in the mid-40s, as compared to the ground-based landings at that time, the aerodynamic efficiency and structure of the seaplane were inferior, " Levis explained.

He noted that the seaplane was designed not to be the same size as land- based planes, since traditional aircraft were limited by the runway's width. Therefore, it is possible to design hovercraft for up to 2,000 people, and, to a larger extent, seaplane can use environmentally-friendly hydrogen fuel.

"What we are lacking at this moment is the will to try something new," Levis said. However, he said, it would take another decade to complete the design of passenger jet aircraft.