From starting out as an adventure to becoming a safe travel method, aviation has been developing for more than a century and has completely changed the world, but nobody thinks that is enough. 

From the beginning of civil aviation, people have been wanting more and more  from aviation. 

We want flight to be safer, more reliable, more convenient, and faster too. Now we also think flights should be quieter, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly. And we know we will want countless 'more's added to those features of flight as well. Look back into the history of flight and we find it was innovation that helped us archive so much in aviation, such as variable pitch propellers, pressurized cabins, all metal fuselages, gyrocompass autopilots, turbo-propeller engines, turbofan engines, computer aerodynamic simulations, GPS navigation and even composite materials. 

We could not see clearly what the future would bring, but there is no doubt we need more innovation to make new breakthroughs. As thousands of engineers work hard to make aviation engines more efficient, we find it is more and more difficult to make new metal alloys that can handle the high temperatures in the combustion chamber. 

Of course we can turn to new non-metal materials, such as carbon fiber reinforced ceramic, but that means increasing investment in basic research - and more risk in the overcome. 

History could be our best teacher as it tells us that every leap in the aviation industry is backed by a new innovation in technology, bringing us completely new and different concepts. Before all metal aircraft were created, nobody would believe a huge block of metal could take off and fly safely - but it proved to be a good solution for fast flights and reliable structures. 

Before the turbojet engine came into being too, no one believed that we could fly without propeller blades buzzing on the wings of aircraft. But today almost all airliners are flying with turbojets or turbofans.

Maybe it's time to change how we look at barriers to innovation. Do we really need to burn fossil fuel to propel our aircraft? Do we really need turbofans onboard? Do we really need human pilots onboard? 

Airbus is going to test if an aircraft can fly with electric power and new fans. I think that's the type of innovation which could really demonstrate our potential, and Airbus is just one among many innovators and would-be innovators who will try and make new breakthroughs in hypersonic flight, electric power propulsion, bio-fuel technology, low noise engines, fuel batteries, AI autonomous control systems and even in smart material. 

That is to say that the future of flight lies in innovations which will create the most powerful propulsive power for human flight.

(The author is the Chief Editor of Aerospace Knowledge. The article reflects the author’s opinion, not necessarily the views of CGTN.)