FoBoeing engineers have been conducting research that indicates that by as early as 2020 there could be non-stop flights from London to Sydney. The company has set its sights on developing a new version of its 777 aircraft, which would be able to fly the entire 10,560 miles from London to Sydney. At the present time flights of this length are simply not economical because of the added cost of carrying the extra fuel onboard the plane. Instead, aircraft generally make a stop in Asia to refuel.
Boeing is aiming to produce a twin-engine 777 that is more fuel efficient by 2020, thus making the longer flight possible. The non-stop flight would cut the journey from between 22 and 24 hours to only 19 hours. Currently, the 777-200 could fly the longer distance non-stop from west to east, but not the other way around due to the strong headwinds in that direction. The new aircraft, dubbed the 777-8XL, is being designed in response to similar efforts from their rival Airbus, who is conducting similar research.
See the original Google News article for more details. |
