The demise of Concorde left a gap in the market, and Sir Richard Branson has now moved to bridge that gap with a brand new prototype for a supersonic passenger aircraft.
The billionaire entrepeneur has teamed up with US-based company Boom to create a supersonic aircraft that could theoretically fly from London to New York in just under three hours.
The idea is to build a fleet of aircraft that can fly across the Atlantic at the breakneck speed of 1,450 mph. According to Mr. Branson, these flying machines would be manufactured with technology and materials that would ferry the 40-strong passenger group across the Pond at an affordable $5,000 return.
Supersonic air travel was halted after the deadly Concorde accident in 2000, in which 100 passengers and crew (and four people on the ground) died when Air France Flight 4590 crashed near Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris shortly after takeoff. This was the only fatal accident involving a Concorde aircraft in its 27 year history.
Now, Mr. Branson’s entrepeneurship may bring about a new era of supersonic flight, and at quasi-affordable prices.