Here we present more ambitious aircraft innovations which will (probably) never get off the ground.
1. The mezzanine in the sky
Airbus loves a patent. Just last month it filed this one, which would see passengers stacked on top of one another in a bid to make more efficient use of cabin space.
A second drawing revealed how passengers might clamber onto the upper bunks. Around a third of Telegraph Travel readers actually saw promise in the proposals.
Airbus told us that it files several hundred patents each year. “This does not mean they are necessarily going to be adopted into an aircraft design," said a spokesman. Quite. We're not sure anyone wants to spend a flight sitting as close together as the two gentlemen in the drawing below.
2. The world's most uncomfortable seat
When it comes to economy class passengers, airlines and manufacturers are really only interested in one thing: cramming as many of the blighters into the plane as physically possible. Hence the instrument of torture shown here.
Another of Airbus's brainwaves was unveiled in 2014 and would offer “reduced bulk", according to the patent application.
The device is designed for short flights, it states, rather obviously - considering tray tables are non-existent, there is no sign of in-flight entertainment, and seats don’t appear to recline. When several rows can be seen (pictured below), the cabin begins to resemble the inside of a galley. Just 11 per cent of Telegraph Travel readers said they would sit in one, even if it meant a cheaper fare.
3. The world's most socially awkward seat
The above set-up actually looks pretty appealing when compared with the following idea. The designs, proposed by Zodiac Seats France, an industry supplier, certainly make more effective use of space - but with one (massive) catch: you would have to spend the entire flight gazing into the eyes of at least one other passenger.
Naturally, readers responded with their own proposals. "I think everyone should be inserted in heavy duty cardboard tubes and stacked in the hold like cordwood," said one. "Of course, the tubes would have air holes. I'm not a sadist."
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4. The flying doughnut
The Airbus boffins really outdid themselves back in November 2014 with this rotund design, dubbed the "flying doughnut". Window seats are few and far between and premium class passengers sit in full view of the rest of the cabin.
5. The price of privacy
Can't stand to look at your fellow passengers? Or want to pick your nose without fear of judgement? The "b-tourist" band might just be for you. It stretches between two headrests so passengers “quietly eat, read a book, watch a movie and sleep without being disturbed”.
Almost three-quarters of Telegraph Travel readers said they wouldn't be seen dead using one.
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6. The cuddle seat
Not to be outdone by its French rival, Boeing has filed its own, equally ludicrous patents. Like this one.
What on God's green Earth could it be? Boeing calls it a "Transport Vehicle Upright Sleep Support System”, and it merges a cushion, a backpack and a pillow into a device which can support a passenger’s head and chest.
Still can't work it out? Watch the video below - and despair.
7. The seat to end the legroom war
This design, courtesy of B/E Aerospace, has merit. The legroom is adjustable, according to the height of each passenger, meaning no more cramped quarters for taller fliers.
But unless shorter passengers pay less for their smaller space, we can't see them giving up those precious extra inches.
8. The sushi automat in the sky
Earlier this year Sell GMBH, a German division of Zodiac Aerospace, presented us with this. Inspired by the sushi bar carousel, it sees food and drink delivered direct to the diner using a conveyor belt-type contraption hidden beneath the floor. Don't get excited - it's not going to happen.
9. The see-through plane
For a vision of flying in 2050, check out Airbus’s ambitious “concept plane of the future”, revealed in 2011. It features advanced fuselage technologies offering touch-of-a button transparency for panoramic views. Passengers could, the manufacturer suggests, one day make video and phone calls from their seat to anywhere in the world, or shut themselves off from other passengers using “holographic pods”. We're sure they'll work out the finer details nearer the time.
10. The Sky Whale
Equally fanciful is this concept plane, the work of Oscar Viñals, a Spanish designer and aviation enthusiast. Named the AWWA Sky Whale, it would take off vertically, has room for 755 passengers and comes equipped with self-repairing wings. Yeah right.
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11. Windowless cabins
But that plane has a massive window, I hear you cry. Nope, that's a display screen showing an imaginary cityscape.
According to Spike Aerospace, windowless planes are the future and will mean "no more glaring sun and no more shades to pull down or push up”. Because lowering the blind is really the most stressful thing about flying...
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