Sir Richard Branson Aims to Bring Supersonic Air Travel to the Masses
Jackie Reddy November 17, 2016
Concorde was taken out of service 13 years ago, but the Virgin Group founder is teaming up with Denver start-up Boom in the hopes of reviving the supersonic market.
The supersonic era may have ended back in 2003 with the decommissioning of Concorde, but it seems that Sir Richard Branson is intent upon the revival of high-speed air travel.
Earlier this week, the Virgin Group founder unveiled the company’s prototype supersonic aircraft. In addition to cutting the flying time between London and New York down to just three and a half hours, Branson also believes that, thanks to improvements in technology and design, this craft will be the first to make supersonic travel affordable to the masses.
While commercial departures won’t commence until 2023, tickets have already been priced at $5,000.
Branson has confirmed that his Spaceship Company, which is the manufacturing subsidiary of Virgin Galactic, will partner with Denver-based supersonic start-up Boom in order to bring the venture to life.
Speaking to The Guardian, Branson confirmed that, “I have long been passionate about aerospace innovation and the development of high-speed commercial flights. As an innovator in the space, Virgin Galactic’s decision to work with Boom was an easy one.”
He added, “Through Virgin Galactic’s manufacturing arm, the Spaceship Company, we will provide engineering and manufacturing services, along with flight test support and operations as part of our shared ambitions.”
Blake Scholl, Boom’s founder and CEO, shares Branson’s vision of affordable supersonic travel and believes that this craft has the potential to surpass the legacy set by Concorde.
“Sixty years after the dawn of the jet age, we’re still flying at 1960s speeds. Concorde’s designers didn’t have the technology for affordable supersonic travel, but now we do,” Scholl told the paper.
While the craft will have just 45 to 50 seats in contrast to Concorde’s 92 to 128, Scholl believes that the demand will be great enough to see the service expand beyond the transatlantic corridor, taking in up to 500 global routes.
Explaining his ultimate vision, Scholl said that he wants, “…people to be able to get anywhere in the world in five hours for $100. To get there you have to improve fuel efficiency, but step-by-step supersonic air travel will become available for everyone.”
[Photo: Prometheus72/Shutterstock]
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I must have. Oh well.
SarcasticMisanthrope, it sounds like you skipped the last paragraph, where he forecasts prices dropping to $100 for 5-hour flights eventually. $5000 is the INITIAL price, before economic of scale hopefully take place. A more valid argument would be: Economics wasn't the only thing that killed the Concorde. It also always limited because of noise issues. That's why it mostly flew just over-water routes from near-the-coast airports (after a few short-lived routes of other sorts). They're going to have solve the noise issues (sonic booms, etc) before this can be as ubiquitous as he'd like.
Tickets priced at $5000 US are not priced for the "masses".