Smell-o-vision, oxygen and airbags for airline passengers

Airline passengers of the future will be distracted from turbulence, screaming kids and the seat table in front by high-tech inflight entertainment including 3D screens and smell-o-vision, according to plane makers Airbus.

Following news that Airbus has plans to remove windows from its aircraft, comes another glimpse of future air travel from the French plane makers: multi-functional virtual reality headsets that stream music, 3D videos, social media, aromas and additional oxygen to aid relaxation. The lightweight helmets may also feature an integrated airbag to protect against turbulence.

The simple sketches in the patent application filed by Airbus might be reminiscent of 1960s salon hair dryers but the technology promises nervous flyers a spa-like environment to distract them from their fears. Which is probably just as well, because another patent applied for by Airbus suggests that its airliners of the near future will no longer use windows - even in the cockpit.

Pilots already have the option to fly using only their instruments at night and in poor weather, and fully autonomous landings are possible at specially-equipped airports, but the patent describes a cockpit design that relies on cameras to project a virtual image of the world outside the aircraft - a digital view with the potential to dramatically increase and enhance the information available to the pilot.

The removal of windows from an aircraft makes it stronger, more aerodynamic and does away with the need for the pilot to sit at the front. The Airbus patent application makes reference to a cockpit housed within the tail plane - a massive structure on the A380 that, at its tip, stands over 24 metres from the ground.

Nervous flyers need not worry unduly about the absence of a pilot’s windscreen, for even pilots themselves are now dispensable. Last year, a team of engineers flew a converted airliner 500 miles without the help of a human operator.