“Depending on how it’s designed, you can have an electric plane that’s substantially less loud than a fuel plane,” Jeff Engler, the start-up’s co-founder told the BBC.

“The way we’ve designed our plane is to have modular battery packs for quick swap using the same cargo container that’s in a regular airplane.

“We want it to be as fast as possible, so airlines can keep their planes in the air as long as possible and cover their costs.”

Budget airline Easyjet says it has entered into discussions with Wright Electric about the “exciting” technology.

Could this be the future of travel? First photos of futuristic Hyperloop test track built in Nevada desert published.