Thunderbirds meets Easyjet: Passenger pods are go!

Ever the forward thinking aircraft manufacturer, Airbus has taken inspiration from Thunderbirds to devise an imaginative way to pre-load passengers.

To allow airlines to maximise passenger numbers the French aviation giant has already hatched plans for window-less fuselages and bicycle-inspired seating. Its latest patent is aimed at reducing the amount of time aircraft have to sit on the tarmac waiting for passengers to board and disembark.

'Passenger Pods'

The aircraft carries a large ‘passenger pod’ as an interchangeable section of its fuselage. The approach allows over 100 people to find their seats, stow their luggage and listen to safety announcements before the aircraft on which they are travelling has landed at the airport.

When an aircraft lands, a hoist removes its passenger pod and replaces it with one already full of travellers waiting to depart.

As well making the aircraft more efficient for the airline, the radical design has the potential to reduce the threat hi-jack because each passengers pod is a self-contained structure with no access to the cockpit.

The ethical choice

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