British Airways, together with the Royal College of Art, has opened a limited-time exhibition titled “BA 2119: Flight of the Future” at the Saatchi Gallery in London. The free exhibit is open to the public until Aug. 26.
Staged as part of British Airways’ centennial celebrations, the exhibition examines the next 100 years of flight. Visitors can experience a VR journey that traces major milestones in aviation history and looks ahead to possible innovations. Among the future developments British Airways highlights are hyper-personalization of services, new cruising flight profiles and potential advances toward hypersonic travel.
Alongside the show, British Airways published the “BA 2119: Flight of the Future Report,” a wide-ranging consumer travel study developed with input from leading experts and futurologists. The report surveyed 13,000 travelers across 10 countries to gather views on how air travel might evolve. Respondents expressed interest in amenities such as in-flight social spaces, the ability to complete immigration and visa procedures during flights, and access to in-flight concierge services.
“The findings of the BA 2119: Flight of the Future Report not only offer us unprecedented insight into how consumers across the world feel about flying now, but what they will expect from us, as airlines, in the future. In the last 10 years alone, the airline industry and flight experience has changed in so many significant ways, including improved fuel efficiency, noise reduction, in-cabin design and luxury. It is therefore not hard to see how, at this rate of progress, these seemingly unreal predictions will come true,” said Alex Cruz, chairman and CEO of British Airways.
He added that the exhibition is an exciting way to mark the airline’s 100th year: remembering past achievements, celebrating current advances and exploring future possibilities through collaboration with partners across industry and academia.