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July 31, 2018 5:54 p.m. ET Supersonic flight will save 50% of air travel time. Courtesy of Spike

Today, flying from New York to London takes an average of 7.5 hours. But the trip could soon be shortened to approximately three, thanks to a promised resurgence of supersonic flights.

During the Farnborough International Airshow in mid-July, Boom Supersonic, one of several U.S. supersonic aircraft makers, announced that it expects to deliver some 2,000 supersonic jets by 2025, making it possible to fly between 500 global gateway cities within hours.

In recent years, a few startups, including Boom, have joined forces with commercial airplane giants, including Boeing and Airbus, as well as NASA, in reviving supersonics, which have been largely missing from the market since the Concorde era.

Concorde, a supersonic aircraft co-funded by the British and French governments, was in service for almost 30 years. A deadly accident in 2000 in France, combined with the high expense of operating the aircraft, and a global economic downturn after 9/11, led to its demise in 2003. The luxury interior of Spike's S512 Courtesy of Spike

But today, “supersonic flight is coming back and reshaping the aircraft industry,” Vik Kachoria, chief executive of Spike Aerospace, tells Penta. “The future is tremendously exciting.”

Kachoria’s Boston-based company is developing the S-512, an 18-passenger luxury supersonic aircraft that took its second test flight this April. Spike is expected to deliver the S-512, which will fly at Mach 1.6 (Mach 1 is the speed of sound, at 741 miles per hour), sometime around 2023 and 2024.

Designed for the types of wealthy customers who want to shop in London and dine in New York, S-512 features a main cabin with wraparound digital screens that can play movies, PowerPoint presentations or footage captured by cameras on the jet's exterior.

Kachoria predicts that supersonic flights could be enjoyed by over 13 million passengers annually when they begin in 2025, based on analysis of the flight routes taken by the 4 billion global passengers that flew in 2017.

“While supersonic aircraft might be ushered in by the wealthy, they will ultimately benefit anyone who wants and needs to get to their destinations faster,” he says.

Spike’s direct competitor, Aerion Corp., is developing a 12-seat airplane, AS2. The Reno, Nevada-based company, funded by Texas billionaire Robert Bass, has vital engineering support from GE and Lockheed Martin, which has been contracted by NASA to develop military supersonic jets.

AS2 is set to be delivered in 2025 with an annual capacity of 30 to 36 jets. FlexJet, a fractional-ownership private jet company, has ordered 20 planes.

“Business jets are a more robust market than commercial airliners,” says Jeff Miller, vice president of Aerion. “Starting from there, we want to find a broader user base and make this new generation of supersonic flight sustainable.”

However, Boom Supersonic is betting on world travelers who are willing to spend extra money for less air travel time, with its 55-seat plane, XB-1.

“We are focused on accelerating long transoceanic trips. We want to get the economy of the plane down so that anybody who flies can fly fast,” Blake Scholl, the company’s founder and chief executive, told British media during this month’s Farnborough International Airshow.

One-way “supersonic” fare from New York to London will cost £2,000 (US$2,625), almost the same as a business-class ticket today, according to Scholl’s estimate.

The Denver-based company has booked launch orders of XB-1, which will fly at Mach 2.2, from Japan Airlines and the Virgin Group.

In April, Ctrip, China’s leading online travel agency invested with Boom, working together to bring supersonic flight to China, which is poised to become the world’s largest aviation market by 2022.

While the prospect of supersonic flight is exciting, some experts question whether it will make business sense.

“The number of those willing to pay the fare needed for supersonic flight is too small to justify such a jet in all but a handful of markets,” says Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with Teal Group, an airspace market information provider.
 Is a Comeback of Supersonic Flights on the Horizon?

Today, flying from New York to London takes an average of 7.



