Supersonic Commercial Air Travel Returning by 2029?

Jun 23, 2021

Boom Supersonic

American start-up ‘Boom Supersonic’ has signed a partnership with United Airlines, allowing them further opportunity to develop their patented supersonic commercial aircraft, capable of flying at speeds twice as fast as regular passenger jets.

Almost 20 years after the Concorde was decommissioned, global jet-setters currently only have the option of travelling at standard, subsonic long-haul speeds. Of course, the comfort and luxury of these planes has improved greatly over that time, but the opportunity to significantly reduce travel time via supersonic air travel has not been available. Travel time remains a significant deterrent for potential international holiday-makers.

However, with this new partnership confirmed, it is looking increasingly likely that a supersonic air service will become available to the public within the next decade. United has purchased 15 Boom ‘Overture’ aircrafts with an option to purchase 35 more. The only condition now being that Boom continue to develop the Overture to meet and exceed United’s stringent safety, operating and sustainability standards.

Current estimations suggest that the aircraft will have met these standards and be ready to take passengers by 2029.

This is huge news for international tourism and for investors across the globe, as affordable supersonic travel will drastically increase the market size for long-haul international travel.

Boom also has an existing R&D partnership with Japan Airlines and hopefully we will see these efforts trigger other global airlines to develop supersonic travel too.

The launch of this may potentially coincide with the completion of the extension of the shinkansen bullet train line from Tokyo to Niseko, due in 2030. Combine the two and travel all the way from the US to Niseko via Tokyo within as little as 12 hours becomes a reality. Crazy!

Flight Time Estimates

Tokyo – Seattle: 4.30 hours (currently 8.30 hours)

LA – Sydney: 8 (14.30)

New York – London: 3.30 (6.30)

Singapore – Dubai: 4 (7)

Paris – Montreal: 3.45(7.15)

Find out more – https://boomsupersonic.com/

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Read our interview with a young couple from the UK who made buying their dream resort home in Japan a reality.

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