Boeing floats hypersonic passenger aircraft ambitions

June 29th 2018

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U.S. aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, could have a prototype of a hypersonic passenger aircraft flying by 2030, the Chicago-headquartered OEM said this week after unveiling a concept design of the futuristic airliner at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics-sponsored aviation conference in Atlanta. Read More »

Boeing envisions the hypersonic airliner to fly at Mach 5.0, approximately eight times the speed of today’s airliners, or roughly 2.5 times the speed of the Concorde, which was retired in 2003.

No details on potential range or passenger count have been disclosed although it is widely expected the hypersonic airliner would be smaller or comparable in capacity to the A320 or B737 series, meaning 100-150 seats.

Last December, Boom Supersonic, a Denver-based start-up, received a US$10 million investment from Japan Airlines (JAL) to develop a supersonic passenger aircraft capable of achieving speeds of Mach 2.2, which would reduce flying time between London and New York to approximately three hours.

Boom has received “pre-orders” for 76 supersonic aircraft, including 20 options from JAL. At an approximate seat count of 55 seats, the Boom airliner will be smaller than Boeing’s early design.

In February, Qatar Airways Group CEO, Akbar Al Baker, told Orient Aviation the Doha-based airline was “very much interested” in being the launch customer for any super or hypersonic airliner being developed.