Virgin partnering with Boom Aerospace for a 40 seat mach 2.2 supersonic commerical jet

Startup Boom aerospace is making commercial supersonic jets that travel at Mach 2.2 is 1,451 MPH. This is 2.6X faster than other airliners.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson is teaming up with Boom to help build a new fleet of supersonic commercial jets. The vehicles will be able to travel from from New York to London in just 3.5 hours, with tickets costing an “affordable” price of $5,000 per seat — “the same price as business class.”

Virgin will initially help Boom with research and development.

The vehicles will fly at an altitude of 60,000 feet, around 20,000 feet higher than the average commercial airline’s cruising height. Boom hopes to test out its first plane by the end of next year.

The Concorde had 100 seats, but a single round-trip ticket ran upward of $10,000.

SOURCES – Boom Aerospace, Virgin, the Verge