Sydney to Los Angeles in 6 hours. That’s the promise of Boom, a new aerospace company that promises the fastest commercial airplane ever, travelling at 2.2 times the speed of sound and nearly 300km/h faster than the much-loved Concorde.
According to AusBT, Virgin Atlantic has already secured options to purchase the first 10 Boom supersonic jets produced by the Colorado company, operating out of Denver Airport. While still expensive, Boom says its jets will make fast travel relatively affordable — around the same price as current business class fares.
Boom claims that its jet — only in the planning and design stage, although backed by a team with experience in supersonic jets and Mach 3 propulsion — would be both quieter and more efficient than Concorde, and would travel at a maximum of three times the 900km/h cruising speed of current commercial jets like Airbus’ A380. With Virgin chairman Richard Branson’s implicit backing, Boom might even make its project a reality.
Although smaller than the Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde, the Boom jet would be only the third supersonic passenger transport to reach service — the other is the Russian-made Tupolev TU-144. [AusBT / Boom]