Supersonic airliner could fly from LA to Tokyo in under three hours

Right now, many of us can't even travel internationally, but if Florida-based plane manufacturer Aerion is correct, by the end of the decade, we'll be able to zip between Los Angeles and Tokyo in less than three hours.

The Aerion AS3 is a Mach 4+ commercial airliner, revealed on Monday, that its creators claim will be able to carry 50 passengers and travel up to 7,000 nautical miles.

“Our goal is to create a future where people can travel between any two points on Earth within three hours. Supersonic flight is just the beginning,” said Tom Vice, Aerion's chairman, president, and CEO, in a statement. “We must break the limits of what’s possible.”

Earlier this year, Aerion strengthened its ongoing partnership with NASA’s Langley Research Center, focusing specifically on commercial flights in the Mach 3-5 range.

In simpler terms, that's a speed range of 2,300 to 3,800 miles per hour, or 3,700 to 6,200 kph – up to seven times faster than a typical long-haul passenger aircraft.

Concept design and planning are currently underway, with further details expected to be unveiled later in 2021.

The AS3 is the second jet introduced in Aerion’s fleet, with plans also in place for hybrid-electric supersonic aircraft in the future.

The AS2 – which promises a 4.5-hour flight from New York to London – is Aerion’s attempt to become the first supersonic passenger aircraft to re-enter commercial service in over 50 years.

The 8-12 passenger business jet will fly at Mach 1.4 (over 1,000 mph), with production set to begin in 2023. The first flight of the AS2 is expected in 2024, with a market release planned for 2026.

Aerion is constructing a massive new global headquarters in Florida, right beside Orlando Melbourne International Airport, to support its ambitious projects.

A new era of supersonic travel begins.

The last supersonic passenger plane to soar through the skies was the iconic Concorde, which was retired over 17 years ago. Though a marvel of engineering, it was notorious for its high operating costs and significant environmental impact.

“Concorde was a magnificent machine, a valiant experiment, but it generated excessive emissions, created too much noise, and was far too costly to keep running,” said Tom Vice.

“What we’re working on is something completely different,” Vice shared with Dinogo Travel in 2020.

Aerion envisions its aircraft flying sustainably: “The world can’t wait until 2050 to achieve carbon neutrality. We must act now,” Vice emphasized.

'Maximizing fuel efficiency'

Aerion's AS2 program boasts a team of prestigious partners, including GE, which is responsible for developing the Affinity supersonic engine, and Spirit AeroSystems, which is constructing the AS2’s pressurized fuselage.

In the cockpit, Honeywell is transforming the flight deck with its expertise in supersonic military jets, designing the AS2’s mission processors, display systems, sensors, and flight controls.

“We needed to create an aircraft that maximized efficiency with the lowest possible fuel consumption, which is why we spent a decade focusing on advanced aerodynamics and fuel-efficient engines. Our design priorities also included minimizing noise and emissions,” explains Vice.

Unlike Concorde, the AS2 will not feature afterburners, which inject fuel into the exhaust to boost thrust during takeoff and acceleration.

“We eliminated afterburners due to their excessive noise and harmful emissions,” says Vice. “Our second key consideration was the aircraft’s energy source. We aimed for a plane that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels and can operate entirely on 100% synthetic fuels from the outset.”

The company has also committed to a major reforestation initiative to ensure carbon offsets for each passenger, on every flight.

‘Quiet and efficient cruising’

Another key challenge was noise. Vice shared in 2020 that the AS2 is engineered to comply with Stage 5 Airplane Noise Standards, the strictest regulations for takeoff and landing noise. “We believe we’ve cracked that issue,” Vice asserts. “Our plane will be as quiet as other aircraft operating around airports.”

One of the most groundbreaking features of the AS2 is its ‘boomless cruise,’ which enables the aircraft to fly supersonic over land without the characteristic sonic boom reaching the ground. Instead, the noise is redirected upwards into the atmosphere.

Aerion developed ‘boomless cruise’ because traditional ‘low boom’ flight, although quieter than Concorde, still generates noise similar to the rumble of far-off thunder, which can be heard on the ground.

Vice is eager to demonstrate that the new technology is viable. “Once regulators see that we can consistently achieve this, we’ll be the first to fly supersonic over land without anyone on the ground hearing the boom,” he says.

Vice believes that ‘boomless cruise,’ combined with carbon-neutral operations, will offer significant productivity benefits for potential AS2 customers.

The Supersonic Family

“We studied the flying habits of business owners. For example, we looked at a company in New York that used business jets globally, and when we substituted an AS2 for their flights, we calculated that each person saved 142 hours annually,” Vice explained.

Aerion faces stiff competition in the supersonic and hypersonic aviation markets, with Boom currently generating the most excitement.

In October 2020, the Denver-based startup made a milestone by unveiling its XB1 demonstrator, marking the debut of the first supersonic aircraft developed independently.

Named Baby Boom, this 71-foot-long prototype is a 1:3 scale version of Boom’s forthcoming supersonic airliner, Overture. With a top speed of Mach 2.2, it’s designed to make the journey from London to New York in just hours.