From Uche Usim, Abuja
After almost 20 years the Concorde supersonic jets vacated the skies, another super fast jetliner, Overture jets, is set to replace it in a few years time.
Already, American Airlines has agreed to buy up to 20 of the jetliners from Boom Supersonic, the maker of Overture jet, on Tuesday.
The Overture, according to Daily Mail, is expected to reach 1,300 mph, roughly double the top speed of a Boeing 747.
The target market is the transatlantic flights and the plane maker says it will cut long flight times nearly in half, with Miami to London in just five hours.
The supersonic jets are not expected to begin carrying passengers until 2029
Unlike the Concorde, the British-French plane that failed to catch on because of the high cost of flights, which ran about $12,000 for a round-trip from New York to London, Boom Chief Executive Officer, Blake Scholl, insists his company’s plane will be different, with tickets costing about $4,000 to $5,000 to fly from New York to London in about three and a half hours.
‘There are tens of millions of passengers every year flying in business class on routes where Overture will give a big speed-up,’ Scholl said, adding that’and airlines will be able to do it profitably.’