It is interesting to think what changes in airport infrastructure are needed to maximise the benefits of such an airframe? I would not be impressed by the prospect of flying standing say from Europe to Gatwick in 40 minutes only to spend 60 minutes at check in and on arrival a further 20 minutes riding the treadmills and another 30 on the tube ;-)
So, for instance - will this aircraft be quiet enough and capable of operating from sufficiently short runways so that more airports can be used? Would advanced avionics allow the plane to provide scheduled service from an aerodrome which today is only available to GA? How many aerodromes/airports are there around London with a sensible paved runway vs. how many are there from which I can fly to Paris/Amsterdam/Berlin on a scheduled service?
Registered luggage - firstly the aircraft should allow a lot more cabin luggage to be taken on board. Secondly - the issue of taking only hand luggage vs. security concerns should be somehow addressed. (I just wondered - has anyone analysed how many millions of $ of baggage handling costs airlines incur [non lo-co] solely so that pax can take a tube of toothpaste or shaving cream - items not readily available in <100 ml sizes??.) How about secure overhead bins, locked between pax on and pax off. If a pax has restricted items (e.g. a bottle of shampoo or a nail cutter) in their handluggage it is placed in some kind of tamperproof container/foil? If the container/foil is tampered with prior to placing the item in the secure overhead container - an alarm sounds. Could the overhead lockers not be redesigned so that they open somehow from below, rather then from the side? That way I could take my hand luggage out without having to wait for the aisle to clear.
APU powered taxi - would that allow airports to be organised more efficiently? Could pax disembark at a point from which it is quick and easy to catch transport into town, afterwards the plane would taxi to a departure stand? At KGX or Euston it often takes me less then 5 minutes between the moment the train stops to the moment I'm on the tube.
Would an airbridge which simply lowers from above/ascends from below not work much quicker than one which has to translate towards the plane? Would the aircraft avionics be able to position the plane automatically so that the airbridge can be quickly placed in position?
The point I am trying to make is that - in the case of Europe - it is more about increasing the efficiency of the overall air transport process than the plane itself.
Regards,
Golf-Sierra