• Urban Expeditions

5 Advances That Will Change Air Travel

New plane designs, alternative fuels, flight patterns, and even airport architecture promise to shrink aviation's carbon footprint.

Published May 2, 2017

This article is part of our Urban Expeditions series, an initiative made possible by a grant from United Technologies to the National Geographic Society.

Read This Next

How green can we make air travel? And how soon?
Barnacles could help solve the mystery of MH370
What we know from decades of UFO investigations
Britain was preparing for a moon landing in 1968. What happened?

Go Further

Animals

Environment

History & Culture

Science

Travel

Subscriber Exclusive Content

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

Read

How viruses shape our world

Read

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

Read

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

Read
  • Magazine

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Explore

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

Read

How viruses shape our world

Read

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

Read

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

Read
  • Magazine

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Explore

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

Read

How viruses shape our world

Read

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

Read

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

Read
  • Magazine

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Explore
See More