In a bid to make their planes lighter, and thus faster, Emirates Airlines has debuted its new first-class suite aboard its latest aircraft, which is missing one significant feature: windows.

In place of the windows, Emirates Airlines will offer passengers the chance to see images that are projected from the outside of the aircraft by way of fiber-optic cameras.

Found in the first-class cabin of the airlines’ latest Boeing 777-300ER, Emirates predicts a windowless future for all planes.

Emirates President Sir Tim Clark said the images were "so good, it's better than with the natural eye."

"Imagine now a fuselage as you're boarding with no windows, but when you get inside, there are windows. Now you have one fuselage which has no structural weaknesses because of windows. The aircraft are lighter, the aircraft could fly faster, they'll burn far less fuel and fly higher," he added.

Still, the new design is not without its critics.

"Being able to see outside the aircraft in an emergency is important, especially if an emergency evacuation has to take place," said aviation safety expert Professor Graham Braithwaite of Cranfield University.

"Flight attendants would need to check outside the aircraft in an emergency, for example for fire, before opening a door and commencing an evacuation — and anything that needed power to do this may not be easy to get certified by an aviation safety regulator," he added.

However, the European Safety Agency assures, “We do not see any specific challenge that could not be overcome to ensure a level of safety equivalent to the one of an aircraft fitted with cabin windows."

Aviation expert John Strickland also chimed in citing the environmental benefits to be had from a windowless scheme.

"Everything that reduces weight on an aircraft is going to reduce fuel burn," Strickland said.