15 June 2007: EasyJet has unveiled its own design for a new generation of short-haul aircraft it claims could be in use by 2015 and contribute to halving carbon dioxide emissions.
The EasyJet EcoJet is the work of two in-house designers trained in aeronautical engineering.
Its design features rear-mounted, open-rotor engines with tailfins upturned at right-angles to the aircraft body. It is suggested these would give a 25% saving on fuel and emissions, with a further 15% saving from the use of lightweight carbon-composite materials similar to those used in the mid-range Boeing 787 due for launch next year.
EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison admitted there was no prototype of the design, but said: “We have not developed a new concept. We have taken ideas from Boeing, Airbus and the engine manufacturers and put them together. “None of them would be surprised at this. We are working with the manufacturers to get this aircraft delivered by 2015.”
He argued the use of such an aircraft, allied to a 10% saving in CO2 emissions achievable through improvements in air traffic control, would make a 50% reduction in global warming emissions possible within eight years.
