Can supersonic dreams survive the global warming age?

When Concorde swooshed across the Atlantic at supersonic speeds of 1,350mph (2,170km/h), you could fly from London to New York in under four hours.

It seemed as if the glamorous age of superfast aviation was here to stay.

But Concorde was costly, noisy and thirsty on fuel, and was withdrawn from service in 2003, some 36 years after the first prototype rolled out of the hangar.

So will supersonic passenger flight ever make a comeback?

The sad truth for speed freaks is that reducing carbon dioxide emissions, rather than increasing speed, has become the new imperative for the aviation industry amid widespread concerns about global warming.

This means most of the innovation is happening in the fields of engine efficiency, aerodynamics and cabin comfort.

Greening flight

Modern passenger jets are very different beasts compared to their forebears, despite their basic shapes remaining remarkably similar.

They now feature much more sophisticated avionics, lightweight composite materials, and engines that are 90 times more powerful than their 1940s predecessors, yet 70% more fuel-efficient.

They are also a lot safer.

Jet engines are now 70% more fuel-efficient than the original versions

Manufacturers, such as Rolls-Royce, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, believe there's plenty more efficiency to be squeezed out of the turbofan jet engine over the coming decades.