Aviation emissions spurred by increasing global demand for air travel rising faster than rail, road or transport in recent years. Solutions to reverse the trend are trickling in: Sustainable Aviation Fuel, which can reduce in-flight emissions by 80% when produced and used correctly. two thirds The emissions reductions needed for aviation to reach its net zero target by 2050. But this is inadequate and in the best-case scenario, the SAF only 0.53% For all jet fuel use in 2024, this is far from the levels needed to have an impact.

As airlines and regulators scramble to come up with ideas to decarbonise the industry, some engineers argue that a completely new shape of aircraft is required to deliver huge savings on fuel consumption and therefore emissions. This eliminates the traditional “tube and wing” design, which has been the mainstay of commercial aviation for 100 years, in favor of something called a “blended wing fuselage” in which the wing area covers a large portion of the fuselage. It creates a unique looking plane.

At Airbus in 2020 was created A small-scale, remote-controlled hybrid wing demonstrator to test a design that the company says could deliver fuel savings of up to 20%. California-based JetZero to launch in 2023 announced An aircraft of similar design is planned, with a capacity for more than 200 passengers and an ambitious goal of entering service by 2030.

Now, San Diego-based Natilus has joined the race with Horizon, a mixed-wing aircraft intended to carry about 200 passengers while producing half the emissions of current Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 aircraft and using 30% less fuel. We aim to compete with.

“The narrowbody market, where Horizon is fully present, will be the largest market in the next 20 years,” says Aleksey Matyushev, CEO and co-founder of Natilus. “Despite all the difficulties faced by the industry, I think that for the first time there is an opportunity to produce a Boeing or Airbus-like (equivalent) vehicle.”

A new passenger experience

Founded in 2016, Natilus previously announced a cargo-only, pilotless aircraft called Kona, using the same innovative shape. Matyushev says the blended wing fuselage design originated in the 1990s with McDonnell Douglas, a major American aerospace manufacturer that merged with Boeing in 1997. Boeing never commercialized the mixed-wing aircraft, but worked on the concept and produced an unmanned prototype, the X-48.

According to Natilus, the Kona has received orders for 400 and a full-scale model will be produced and flown within the next two years. Most of the technology will then be transferred to Horizon, which will have a regular cockpit and crew and, according to Matyushev, will be in service by 2030. This is a very ambitious goal, as it is unprecedented for a brand new aircraft to come out of the design phase. achieved full certification in just six years.

“One of the challenges of hybrid wing fuselage design is stability and control,” he explains. “I think that’s where McDonnell Douglas and Boeing really stumble – how do you keep the airplane balanced?”

One way to achieve stabilization, he says, is through complex flight control systems (essentially computers, which Matyushev specifies). caused Problems with Boeing 737 Max.

The other option, according to Matyushev, is aerodynamics or the design of aircraft surfaces, which is the route Natilus has chosen and distinguishes it from JetZero.

The new shape comes with some significant advantages. “There’s a 30% reduction in drag, but at the same time you can actually reduce the weight of the aircraft to accommodate the same amount of passengers or cargo, which is very unique,” ​​he says. “A small plane has smaller engines, which results in less fuel burn. So when you put the two together, it starts to create about a 50% reduction (in emissions) per passenger seat.”

The much larger hull, which no longer looks like a tube, opens up possibilities for different layouts on the ship. “We have about 30% more floor space than a conventional aircraft,” explains Matyushev. “So I think what most of our customers are thinking about is a better passenger experience. Can you bring the hall back? Are there other areas you can reserve on the plane for long flights?”

Not everything in Horizon will be brand new; For example, the aircraft will use existing engine technology, leaving no room for hydrogen or electric options. “There is a joke in aviation; Never install a brand new engine in a brand new aircraft. This is very risky,” says Matyushev. For the same reason, Horizon was designed to fit anywhere a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 could fit, without requiring any changes to airport infrastructure.

uncharted territory

A series of delivery failures that have caused airlines to expect new aircraft until the 2030s have created a “window of opportunity” for a new entrant to disrupt the status quo, according to Gary Crichlow, an aviation analyst at Aviation News Limited.

“But that window is very narrow,” he says. “The key selling point for operators is the similarity in terms of the quality of the flight crew. “The success of the 737 Max and A320neo is due in no small part to their ability to be easily integrated into existing 737 and A320 operations respectively: flight crews need little additional training for the transition.”

However, teething problems are a feature of every new aircraft, and with a new, untested manufacturer and a new, as yet unproven design, this is almost inevitable. “(Horizon) will have a completely different seating and cargo loading scheme and will require a completely different flight and cabin crew. “Avoiding this operational headache and providing reliable and at-scale support when it occurs will likely be Natilus’ biggest challenge in persuading potential customers to purchase Horizon rather than waiting for a more traditional 737 Max or A320neo replacement.”

Crichlow also points out possible obstacles to the aircraft’s path to certification from aviation authorities. “The challenge with any clean sheet design has been the enormous upfront cost of developing and certifying it. In terms of certification, conventional aircraft such as the 737 Max 7 and 10, 777-X, A321neo XLR and COMAC C919 all faced, and in some cases still face, significant regulatory delays in their manufacturers’ original timelines. “As the hybrid wing is such a different design as the fuselage, I would expect regulators to be even more careful.”

Matyushev recognizes that Natilus is entering uncharted territory: “There are a lot of questions about how to build the hybrid hull at full scale, because all we have now is wind tunnel data and then scaling prototypes, but no one has actually produced one at full scale. “he says.

Some of these questions may soon be answered, with Natilus currently working on a full-scale prototype.

For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at: CNN.com