We’re all used to the fact that a flight from the UK to the US typically takes roughly seven hours or more. And with ample snacks and enough on-flight films to binge, the long journey is bearable enough. But – for those not old enough to remember – what if we told you that 20 years ago, people were flying from London to New York in less than three and a half hours? That’s only just about enough time to get through Titanic.
Supersonic jet the Concorde first took off in 1969, then started offering incredibly fast commercial flights from 1979. The aircraft set the record for the fastest ever transatlantic crossing in 1996, reaching London from New York in a mere two hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds.
But now, Donald Trump has opened the door for the Concorde (or something like it) to make a return by issuing an executive order which will lift a 52-year ban on civil supersonic flight over US land. The White House said: ‘America once led the world in supersonic aviation, but decades of stifling regulations grounded progress. This Order removes regulatory barriers so that US companies can dominate supersonic flight once again.’
The original Concorde was forced to stop flying in 2003. There was a severe drop in passenger numbers, largely due to the tragic crash of an Air France Concorde in July 2000, which killed 113 people and damaged the public’s trust in the aircraft. Its retirement was also put down to high operating costs and its sonic boom and high emissions, which led to public complaints and regulatory issues. These days, you’ll find the majority of the 20 Concordes that were built preserved in museums.
So, are supersonic commercial flights really on the cards again? Boom Technology, a firm developing the Overture supersonic airliner, hopes so. Overture has been designed to carry 64 to 80 passengers across the pond in a little over three and a half hours. American Airlines committed to buying 20 of the aircraft back in 2022 and Boom hopes to carry its first passengers by 2029.
The company reckons that it also has the solution to the deafening sonic boom created by the aircraft. It said: ‘By flying at a sufficiently high altitude at an appropriate speed for current atmospheric conditions, Overture’s sonic boom never reaches the ground.’
Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom Supersonic, told the Independent: ‘We believe in a world where more people can go to more places more often. Sustainable supersonic travel unlocks new possibilities for business relationships, prospects for vacation and opportunities for human connection.’
A company called Fly-Concorde Ltd is also reportedly working on a new version of the Concorde – one that looks similar but will instead run on sustainable aviation fuel and be quieter and 50 percent lighter than the original.
Other industry experts aren’t sure that supersonic travel will take off in the same way as it did decades ago. Jonathan Hinkles, a senior aviation executive, told the Independent: ‘If you look at what Concorde did, it was a way of being able to leave London at 7pm, arrive in New York at 5.50pm, so you'd be basically travelling through time to arrive in New York before the flight had left London in local time.
‘But of course, today we've got Zoom, we've got Teams. A lot of business meetings that were the bedrock of why people flew on Concorde don't actually require people to fly anymore.’
ICYMI: The world’s longest flight will launch from the UK in 2027.
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