With findings drawn from a 10,000-strong survey, the aircraft manufacturer also consulted with 1.75 million people in 192 countries over a two-year period to get a better understanding of air travel's future.

Released three days before the Farnborough International Airshow, the study hints that quieter aircraft are important, with 66% people voting for it.

The survey revealed that more than 40% felt the air-travel experience is increasingly stressful.

Queues at passport control; slow check-in and baggage collection; sitting on the tarmac; and circling in holding patterns around airports were customers' main concerns.

"Capacity constraints are a sign of things to come unless the industry can work together to cut delays, and with aviation set to double in the next 15 years, that's what we're looking at," Airbus executive vice president, engineering Charles Champion reportedly said in a press statement.

Other than the survey and related research, Airbus, part of European aerospace group EADS, has come up with a "Concept Plane" which illustrates what air transport could look like as early as 2030, though more likely by 2050.

The graceful, spaceship-like prototype showcased long, slim wings; semi-embedded engines; a U-shaped tail and light-weight fuselage. Such an aircraft would ensure lower fuel burn and a significant cut in emissions, Airbus claims.

Airbus has also stated to be working on cabin configuration and replacing business and economy classes with personalized zones.

As a reason to why this survey was initiated, Champion told Reuters "We wanted to know if people still wanted to fly - what are the priorities of the generation of today. It was an interesting exercise and enthusiasm for flight has motivated our engineers into designing great new ways to fly in the future."

The future market

Despite the boom in social media and video messaging, 60% of respondents in the Airbus study believed that technology would never replace the need of face-to-face interactions.

"Aviation is the real World Wide Web," Champion said. "The world is woven together by a web of flights that creates ever-expanding social and economic networks: 57 million jobs, 35% of world trade, and $2.2 trillion in global GDP.

Airbus says that more than 90% of the 2 billion euros it spends annually on research and development is directed at improving the environmental performance of its aircraft.

The plane manufacturer also points out that a passenger on its flagship A380 uses just three litres of fuel to travel 100km - the same as a small family car.

Airbus predicts that once it enters service in late 2015, the A320neo's engines will provide up to 15% fuel savings, while the lightweight carbon-plastic A350 XWB will provide a 25% step-change in fuel efficiency from its planned early-2014 launch.

Airbus believes that the aviation industry as a whole has reduced fuel burn and emissions by 70% and noise by 75% in the last 40 years.

Carbon neutral growth is a target for 2020, while a 50% net CO2 emissions reduction by 2050. Half of these savings will come from better air traffic management, Airbus believes.

In the meantime, the plane maker is finding local environmental regulations to adhere to.

It has blamed European Union moves to tackle carbon emissions for the suspension of long-distance jet orders worth up to $14 billion, and has backed China's refusal to accept the EU's emissions trading scheme.

Opponents of the scheme, which include the United States and other nations, have called for a unilateral emission-reduction plan from ICAO, to be agreed by all 191 members.

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