Londoners May Benefit from the New Concord in Less Than Ten Years

October 24, 2003 was the date on which the famous Concord made its last flight and with it supersonic civil air travel ended. Today U.S-based aerospace company Aerion in partnership with Airbus are considering to reintroduce it.

Both companies are planning to build a supersonic business jet that can fly with a speed of 1.217 miles per hour. This will make the AS2 the world’s fastest passenger aircraft. The jet is classified as a Mach 1.6 aircraft and uses a laminar flow wing technology to achieve its mind blowing speed.

The aircraft will be able to reach speeds of Mach 1.4 and 1.6 over water. This means that the AS2 will be able to reach speeds that are twice as fast as today’s civil airplanes. Or said in order words this jet will be able to make the flight between New York and London in approximately three hours, and the flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles in an estimate of six hours. However the plane won’t be able to maintain its maximum speed at all times as supersonic speed is strictly prohibited above U.S airspace and this is why it will have the abilities to fly at just under the speed of sound (754 miles per hour) over the United States.

Such velocity hasn’t been achieved in civil air travel since the Concorde which reached speeds up to 1.350 miles per hours. However it had to be retired in 2003 due to a drastic decrease in passengers. Aerion and Airbus are convinced that they won’t meet Concord’s faith because of the aforementioned laminar flow wings.

The wings have been in development for more than a decade and were recently tested by Aerion and NASA. The new design and technology behind the laminar wings reduces the airframe drag by approximately 20 percent. This automatically decreases the usage of fuel and therefore allows the aircraft to cover longer distances. This means that the AS2 will be able to cover a distance of 5.450 statute miles before refueling is required.

The creation of this supersonic jet means that flag carrier companies will have the ability to connect cities such as London and Seattle or San Francisco and Tokyo with a single non-stop flight.

While the AS2 is still in its concept stage, both Airbus and Aerion are expecting to commence test flights by 2019 and to officially introduce their supersonic aircraft by 2021. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around £65 million.

The fact that the AS2 is being developed by Airbus means that all Londoners will be able to use it around 2022 and therefore reach their favorite destinations much more quickly. So if you are currently moving to London via man and van services know that in less than ten years you will be able to travel to the North American continent in approximately three hours. However there is still time until then, so for now make sure that your man and van in London goes smoothly.

Interesting fact: The aircraft will have a capacity of twelve people.