Originally Posted by
Genghis the Engineer
I've not read his papers yet (in fact I don't think that they've been published), but gather on the professional grapevine that a well regarded professor at Cranfield is asking this very question at the moment.
He's apparently concluded that bigger airliners would be much more efficient, and that the limiting factor on airliner efficiency at the moment is the ICAO 80x80m box.
G
That's very interesting and I would be interested to read about it. It makes sense for various reasons.
I am under the impression that the A380 is
less efficient than 777 in terms of fuel per mile per passenger though despite being bigger and newer..