In a few years, United Airlines will be able to offer transatlantic departures with supersonic passenger planes. The airline has just entered into an agreement to purchase 15 supersonic aircraft from the American company Boom Supersonic. It writes Sky News.
Supersonic aircraft, also called supersonic aircraft, fly faster than the speed of sound. The 15 aircraft will have a speed of 1.2 Mach – that is 1.2 times the speed of sound – and have room for 85 passengers. With that speed, it will be possible to fly from London to Newark in New Jersey in 3.5 hours – a trip that with a regular flight takes seven hours.
According to United Airlines, the goal is also for these to be the first supersonic planes without carbon emissions.
“United Airlines continues the fight to be an innovative and sustainable airline, and with modern technology development we now see an opportunity to include supersonic aircraft,” Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, told Sky News.
Expensive Concorde
United Airlines and Boom Supersonic are not the first to experiment with supersonic passenger planes. Last summer, the company Virgin announced a design for a supersonic aircraft with a speed of 3 Mach – three times the speed of sound. However, the Virgin aircraft will only be able to carry somewhere between 9 and 19 passengers.
There are also previous examples. Even before the turn of the millennium, the supersonic Concorde aircraft set a record for the speed of commercial aircraft. In 1996, a Concorde flew between London and New York in 2 hours and 52 minutes.
Both British Airways and Air France flew for a period with the famous Concorde aircraft, but in 2003 both companies decided to take them out of service. Demand was too low and operating costs too high.
However, that does not make United Airlines let go of the plans. According to the airline, Boom Supersonic aircraft will be 75 percent cheaper than Concorde, as the technology is better today.
Prototype ready within one year
If the planes are a success, United Airlines will not settle for 15 planes. The contract provides for the purchase of another 35.
However, it takes a while before the first passengers can buy a ticket. Boom Supersonic expects to be ready to get the first prototype on the wings this year or early next year.
According to the schedule, the first aircraft will be able to carry passengers across the Atlantic in 2029.
This article was first published on The engineer.
