Former Prestatyn High School pupil part of pandemic-proof aircraft project at Loughborough University

Lucy Davies, 23, who is currently doing a masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering, is working on the project with a group of her fellow students at Loughborough University.

The team, Hygeia, is made up of 12 aeronautical engineering students.

The aircraft has been named the HG198 and will boast a range of features which will allow passengers to travel safely without a mask.

These include staggered seating to allow for increased passenger distancing and rear boarding to allow for a one-way passenger movement system. There will also be underfloor baggage storage (replacing overhead bins), reduced shared touch points and air curtains to separate the airflow between passengers.

Lucy, who grew up in Prestatyn, said: "I am the lead astrodynamicist for the project and I also work in the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) team. I also run Hygeia’s outreach project.

"The project started in October 2020, I got involved in it through the course’s group design project options. This one sparked a lot of interest from students as it is very topical and applicable to the aviation industry currently.

Inside the aircraft. Picture: Hygeiaplane / Lucy Davies

"A lot of work has gone into the project so far. We began by researching what the future of pandemics and aviation may look like and the research indicated that Covid-19 will not be the last pandemic that we will see. This is largely due to human behaviour, such as encroachment onto animals’ natural habitat thus forcing animals to share the same areas as humans, subsequently increasing the risk of catching diseases from them. Therefore, the following potential future scenario was envisioned:"

Lucy explained that low-cost carriers, airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet, have been gaining greater shares of the aviation market and forecasts suggest that this growth is likely to continue.

"This trend influenced the decision to design the pandemic-proof aircraft around airlines such as these," Lucy added.

Former Prestatyn High School pupil Lucy is designing a pandemic-proof aircraft with a group of fellow students at Loughborough University

"We conducted a survey to investigate what passengers would look for in a pandemic proof aircraft. The results showed that potential passengers were looking for features that prevented the spread of diseases on board. Not only this but it was important to them that they were aware of these additions. Some of the pandemic proof features could increase the operating cost of the aircraft.

"The survey results also indicated that passengers would be willing to pay more for a ticket on a pandemic proof aircraft and so the airlines would still be able to operate profitably.

"On top of this, when considering that some airlines currently must fly at only half capacity to guarantee passenger distancing, preliminary calculations show that this new design could be three times as profitable as currently operating aircraft."

The HG198 will seat 198 passengers.

It will feature many systems that make it pandemic proof such as:

• Rear boarding: Board from the rear of the aircraft (under the tail) which means that passengers don’t face each other during boarding as they walk and are seated in the same direction.
• Staggered seating, in a 2-4-2 configuration: The seats are staggered to increase the distance between passengers.
• Passengers have their own armrests unlike current aircraft (joint armrests increase shared touch points).
• Underfloor baggage storage: The overhead storage bins, as seen on conventional aircraft, has been removed as they are heavily used shared touch points and encourage passenger interaction and movement: They have been replaced by individual underfloor storage in front of each seat.
• Perspex screens
• Physical separation between passengers
• Air curtains: To separate the flow between passengers
• Self-cleaning toilets
• UV system that cleans the toilets between each use.
• App to queue for toilets and request food/drink/duty free: Mobile app that will feature a queuing mechanism that will alert the user when it is their turn to use the toilet, this will stop congregation. The app will also feature a menu that will allow passengers to purchase any food or duty-free items to limit passenger-staff interactions.
• Alternative mission: In the event of border closure an alternative mission has been designed to ensure the business model is viable. This alternative mission is the transportation of cargo and to allow this the seats are removable which provides access to a roller floor on which cargo can be easily moved within the aircraft after inserting through the cargo door

Lucy said: "The main differences between the HG198 and current aircraft are the above points, however, we also differ in that we have a large move towards sustainability.

"The HG198 boasts a rear mounted open rotor engine. An open rotor engine, as opposed to a typical gas turbine engine, as seen on current airliners, is more sustainable because a higher efficiency factor means it burns less fuel and thus emits less greenhouse gases per flight. The HG198 will also use sustainable aircraft fuels, in a 50:50 blend with kerosene to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions per flight."

Asked if airlines / travel companies are directly involved in the project, Lucy said: "The project is internal, however airlines have been contacted so that their requirements can be fed into the design.

"It is evident from the predicted scenario that for the airline industry to remain aircraft will have to evolve. Therefore, in the coming years we expect designs, such as the HG198, to become a reality."

For further details and to follow the project, click here.