Boom Supersonic is a startup company that is designing a new 55 passenger supersonic air transport with a range of 4,500 nautical miles. The company is currently assembling a 1/3 scale demonstrator aircraft that should take to the skies in late 2018. The demonstrator aircraft, as with the current airliner design, will be powered by three turbofan engines. It will be fabricated out of composite materials, and will feature a conventional compound delta wing configuration, similair to that of the Concorde design. The company is based out of Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colorado.
Boom Supersonic has identified 500 daily routes that the aircraft could viably operate on. Flying over water at a speed of Mach 2.2, the aircraft would be able to operate the New York to London route in 3 hours and 15 minutes. The aircrafts range of 4,500 nautical miles means that transpacific flights from the west coast to Tokyo would require a stop for refueling in Anchorage, Alaska or Honolulu, Hawaii. The company has projected a market potential for up to 1,000 supersonic airliners by the year 2035. The target purchase price for the aircraft is $200M apiece, and would not be nogotiable. Options and interiors would be subject to additional costs on top of the purchase price.
Virgin Atlantic placed an option for 10 aircraft with Boom in March of 2016, and Virgin Galactic has stated that it will aid in the manufacturing and testing the supersonic transport. The company also secured an option for 15 aircraft from an unidentified European customer, as well as 51 additional commitments at the 2017 Paris Air Show. In December of 2017, Japan Airlines announced a partnership that included a strategic investment of US $10 million in Boom. JAL will also collaborate with the company to refine the aircraft design and help define the passenger experience for supersonic travel. Japan Airlines also confirmed that it was one of the customers that placed a commitment for up to 20 of the aircraft at the Paris Air Show.
You can read the Boom/JAL press release at the link below:
Boom/JAL press release
