20% Fuel Cut: Airbus Reveals Radical Flying-Wing Future
Airbus explores blended-wing body jets that could cut fuel use by 20% as startups challenge the duopoly with bold cabin designs and futuristic aircraft concepts.
The CEO of Airbus said the future of commercial aviation could be a plane like the B-2 bomber with a cabin under the wing.
In an interview with Tobias Fuchs and Martin Murphy in the German newspaper Bild, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said that in the next 30 or 40 years, plane makers could abandon the traditional tube-and-wing layout and use a single, thick wing with a passenger cabin.
This design—known as a "blended-wing body," or BWB—distributes lift across the entire sweeping wing, providing greater payload capacity and greater efficiency than conventional jets. Faury said a widebody aircraft would be "better suited" for this concept.
He further stated that the advantages of a BWB come with some trade-offs, including the possibility of removing windows. Passengers will not receive any natural light, and some may experience confusion or claustrophobia.
Emergency evacuation could also be difficult: Passengers and crew won't be able to see what's happening outside, and those sitting in the middle of the cabin will be farther from the exit than in today's jets.
Faury's comments are a new indication that Airbus sees opportunity in blended-wing designs, an area where it faces competition from new aircraft manufacturers seeking to beat Airbus to market. BWB designs have a long history.
The Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber—often called the most famous "flying wing" aircraft—first flew in 1989. Although the BWB concept is even older, interest in it revived in the early 1990s when McDonnell Douglas worked on a blended-wing transport idea that eventually evolved into the BWB-17 in partnership with NASA.
After McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997, Boeing continued working with NASA to build the X-48 series of subscale demonstrators until the program ended in 2013.
However, to date, no full-size passenger BWB has been certified or flown, and Boeing has not announced plans to build its own BWB.
For its part, Airbus has been exploring BWBs since 2017, and the company's 200-person design is a key part of its ZEROe initiative for zero-emission aviation.
In 2019, the company flew a small-scale demonstrator, showcasing potential significant fuel savings – estimated at approximately 20% – and new cabin layouts made possible by a wider interior. The long-term vision includes running these aircraft on hydrogen instead of traditional jet fuel.
But despite the initial momentum, Airbus has pushed back its initial ZEROe 2035 timeline by 10 years.
Airbus cited challenges such as certification difficulties, limited global hydrogen infrastructure, and uncertainty about passenger approval—especially because some seats could be powered by natural light.
Startups Hope to Break the Airbus-Boeing Duopoly
Aviation startups like Natilus and JetZero hope the unique BWB shape could help break the traditional Boeing-Airbus duopoly, with both targeting launches in the early 2030s.
San Diego-based Natilus is developing a narrowbody version called Horizon to compete with the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, promising approximately 25% less fuel burn but 40% more cabin space. It could fit into existing airport infrastructure.
Company CEO Alexey Matyushev previously told Business Insider that the industry could face a shortage of approximately 40,000 narrowbody jets over the next 20 years—a number he said far exceeds the actual supply of these two legacy players.
Matyushev said the Horizon's larger cabin could feature wider seats, dedicated family areas, and other unique features beyond today's narrowbody jets.
Renderings of the Horizon's proposed cabin, released in July, show three aisles instead of the traditional one or two. Matyushev confirmed to Business Insider that the jet will have windows everywhere.
Passengers sitting in middle seats will still be away from windows, but Natilus said it is adding skylights and other lighting strategies to create an outdoor-like appearance.
Meanwhile, 100 miles north in Long Beach, JetZero is building a widebody version called the "Z4" that promises up to 50% lower fuel burn and could replace jets like the Boeing 767 and Airbus A330.
The plane will have similar advantages to the Horizon in terms of airport compatibility and seat layout.
JetZero has already attracted interest from United Airlines. In April, United Airlines Ventures, which invests in these new aircraft, said it planned to buy up to 200 of JetZero's 250-seat Z4s.
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