May shows: 21st century travel

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(CNN) -- We're looking into the future this month on CNN Business Traveller 21st Century.

This month we've not one, but two special shows for you, looking at the future of aviation and the future of the business travel experience. It promises to be quite a trip, so fasten your seatbelts.

Show one: The future of aviation

So, what will flying be like in the future? We start our journey in Singapore. Singapore Airlines will be first to fly the Airbus A380 when it enters service later this year on the Singapore -- Sydney route.

It promises to be quite literally the biggest thing in aviation for years. A lucky few have seen the outside of the giant Airbus as it completed its global route proving flights over the last year but until now, very few people have actually flown in it.

Follow Richard Quest as he joins 200 of the world's aviation journalists for the very first press flight of the A380. We take you on a nose to tail tour of the superjumbo. Will it pass the Quest test?

From Singapore we go to Chicago, USA to the headquarters of the Boeing company. They are Airbus' biggest rival, mortal opponents in industry's biggest duel. Boeing is pinning its future on the 787 Dreamliner. A futuristic composite aircraft promising quieter engines and greater fuel efficiency than we've ever seen before.

The company has had its problems, but is now resurgent. Business Traveller has a briefing on the Boeing vs. Airbus battle.

San Francisco is the next stop on our journey as Richard takes a look into the life of super commuters. These hardy travelers live on one continent but work on another. For Patrick Larvie, crossing the Pacific is just part of his normal commute. He lives in San Francisco and works in Hong Kong. Two apartments, two wardrobes, two sets of friends, but where did he leave his shoes? He shares his insights with Richard on how to handle life on the move.

Next stop for us is back across the Pacific to Hong Kong. In the future major hubs like Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok are just going to become more and more important. Major transit points growing in significance as they become point-to-point hubs in their own right. They will open up huge potential for airlines to extend their networks. Sometimes through code shares others grow organically, like Air New Zealand, which last year opened up a new route to Hong Kong allowing it to become the first airline to be able to take you all around the world just using its own planes.

By the time Richard deplanes in London he's earned a whole fleet of airmiles and it's time to relax. He takes an excursion to Dubrovnik in Croatia to see how the city has successfully rebuilt itself as one of Europe's most charming tourist destinations.

Show times

ALL TIMES GMT

Next air dates: May 12/13/17
Saturday 13:30; Sunday 11:30; Thursday 13:30

Show two: The future of business travel

In the second Business Traveller 21st Century special this month, Richard Quest takes a look at the future of the travel experience. Travel may broaden the mind, but what about its toll on body, soul and planet earth?

Our journey begins in beautiful Vancouver on the west coast of Canada. Canadians have been at the forefront of environmental thinking for years. It's no accident that Greenpeace was founded there back in 1971. Responsible traveling these days means keeping an eye on what you're doing to the planet.

So Richard traces the carbon footprint he left on his journey from London to Vancouver. What did he do right? What did he do wrong? How can responsible world travelers do better? It isn't just business travelers who pack in the airmiles.

We are what we eat -- it's as true of how we treat the food as the food itself. At Vancouver's Granville Island market there is produce from all over the world, often in a single store. Getting it to you uses up resources and generates emissions -- let Business Traveller 21st Century explain about food miles.

From Vancouver Richard travels back across the Pacific Ocean, through the dateline and on to Hong Kong. These sorts of long oceanic flights are terrible for jet lag. Anyone who's done it regularly knows all about living in the gray half-light before dawn. Most of us just endure it, relying on sleeping pills, eyeshades and just good old fashioned willpower but are there other ways to beat the lag? We show you what the business traveler can learn about sleep.

From Hong Kong its back to Europe and Hamburg, headquarters of Lufthansa Technik. This is one of the companies around the world who fit out private jets. What makes Lufthansa Technik different though, is that they've worked on a niche product that could open private jet travel up if not to the masses then at least the middle management.

It is a type-approved off-the-shelf private jet. Normally luxury jets are bespoke affairs costing telephone number prices. The Lufthansa offering -- the Airbus A318 Elite -- goes for a comparatively modest $50 million. We take a look at the first one to roll off the production line.

And from there it's back home for Richard for some well earned rest before Business Traveller's next show in June when we explain all about Open Skies. The winners, the losers and how it'll affect your travel costs. It's all on CNN Business Traveller.