Skyport Approach - original art by Ron Andrini

The largest aircraft ever built, launched in the early twenty-first century, was dubbed Skyport in the media. Conceived to expedite long-range jet travel and reduce fuel costs and pollution, the concept is essentially a flying air terminal. Feeder flights dock under Skyport's spacious wing concourses and exchange passengers and cargo via escalators.

Air passengers, changing planes while cruising toward their destinations, experience no travel delays. Traffic, noise, and air pollution at "hub" airports are avoided. And, since the bulk of fuel is consumed in climbing to altitude, jetliners save fuel by exchanging passengers and cargo in mid-stratosphere without slowing to land, "stack up," or even descend to earth.

Skyport itself is designed to cruise hyper-efficiently and remain aloft for weeks at a time, with in-flight repairs, provisioning and fueling. Amenities include a skyborne shopping mall, workout centers, multiplex cinemas, gourmet restaurants, berths and staterooms. Midair transfer allows the huge craft to take off and land unburdend by cargo and passengers, at special airfields for ground maintenance.

Dorsal fittings for Skyport docking pads, hoists and escalators are easily retrofitted on existing passenger liners. Each Skyport can dock with four "feeder flights" at once. Up to a dozen Skyports cruise continuously in "racetrack" patterns over polar and other global air routes, ensuring convenient service for long-range "jet-setters."