LEDs in the ceiling of an airliner would not only allow internet access but could also transmit films on demand to individual seats, removing the need for lots of expensive and heavy cabling, thus saving airlines fuel.
" It was the first big carrier, the first wide-body. So, it set a new standard for airlines to figure out what to do with it, and how to fill it, " said Guillaume de Syon.
Back in this country, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized the first regulations of greenhouse gas emissions from airliners and large business jets.
Ms. Felgar said Boeing is working to ensure its biofuel comes from plants that are not used as food crops. She said South Africa was a good place to begin the use of biofuels in large passenger planes.
The albatross the giant European producer of passenger jets recently completed a series of tests on new forms of wing control using a model in a winds tunnel that filter near Bristol in southwestern Britain.