Imagine flying from Paris to New York in four hours and 14 minutes or making it to Asia from the US East Coast in a mere nine-and-a-half hours flight, making your business activities swifter and help you pack a more extensive itinerary. After the Concorde disaster in 2000, Nevada’s Aerion Corporation is all set ensure that the Supersonic Business Jet age returns with the launch of its Aerion Supersonic Business Jet (SBJ), which can hit speeds as fast as Mach 1.5 (1,840 km/h). While the $80 million, the super-fast executive plane is a mere 12-seater for now, a 50-seater is in the offing as well. The company also has a receipt book that totals to $4 billion in orders, from the Middle East alone for a 2014 launch.
The development cost for these super jets is estimated between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion. Apart from Aerion, other companies like Cessna, Sukhoi, Russian aircraft giant Tupolev, the US’s Supersonic Aerospace International, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are also in the process of getting SBJs back on track.
[G And D]
