ENGINEERS promising to turn London to New York into a day trip have got the funding they need to build the world’s fastest passenger jet.
Boom Supersonic said it received $33million (£26million) in funding and was ready to build its XB-1 jet prototype.
The XB-1- dubbed the “baby boom” – is backed by a host of wealthy tech bosses, astronauts and engineers and is tipped to be faster and more efficient than Concorde.
Seats will cost the same as major airline’s business class – but budget tickets could be on the cards too, according to Chief Executive Blake Scholl who claimed “that’s where we’re headed over time”.
Scholl said the jet, which will cost more than $200million to build, could be carrying passengers by the early 2020s.
How fast will the Boom Supersonic jet travel?
The XD-1 will break the speed of sound, travelling at 60,000ft above the Earth.
It claims that it will be able to shave half the typical flight time off popular routes.
That means you could have a date in Sydney and be in bed in LA with a 6.45 flight time.
London to New York becomes a day trip at just 3.15 hour flight time.
You could even have lunch in Tokyo and dinner in San Francisco with just five-and-a-half hour flight.
Announcing £26million of funding on Wednesday, he said: “This funds our first airplane, all the way through flight tests.
“Now we have all the pieces we need – technology, suppliers and capital – to go out and make some history and set some speed records.”
Similarly to Concorde, the XB-1 will fly higher than other aircraft at around 60,000ft.
It will break the sound barrier, but despite the jet’s name, passengers won’t hear a thing.
Concorde failed to make enough cash to keep its engines running and was put out to pasture in 2003.
It took until February of this year for the BA jet to be moved to a museum after languishing on the runway for 14 years.
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