An American company designing a new aircraft with the ability to fly from Melbourne to Los Angeles in just 8.5 hours is expected to start flying its first passengers within six years. Colorado-based company Boom is developing a commercial supersonic aircraft called Overture and already has orders from three airlines.

Boom tells news.com.au Australians on-board Overture would be able to travel to international destinations in almost half the time.

This includes Melbourne to Los Angeles in just over 8.5 hours instead of almost 14 hours, Brisbane to Shanghai in five hours instead of 10 hours, and Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur in less than five hours instead of eight hours.

Commercial supersonic flight has been on hiatus since Concorde was retired two decades ago after 27 years of flying. The last commercial Concorde flight landed in Bristol, England in 2003. Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson and Queen Elizabeth II were among the famous faces who flew on Concorde flights.

Musician Phil Collins famously performed at the 1985 Live Aid charity concerts in London and Philadelphia in the US on the same day thanks to Concorde. But the plan for Overture is for supersonic commercial flights to be a lot less exclusive.

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While news.com.au was told no Australian airlines have yet placed an order, airlines that fly Down Under have. Japan Airlines pre-ordered 20 aircraft in 2017 and United Airlines ordered 15, with an option for 35 more, in 2021. United will become the largest carrier between the US and Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this year, as part of “the largest South Pacific expansion in aviation history by any airline”.

American Airlines was the latest airline to order Overture aircraft, placing a deposit on up to 20 aircraft, with an option for 40 more, in August last year. That means orders and pre-orders for Overture currently stand at 130 aircraft.

“Global airlines have been very receptive to Overture, given the advantage of supersonic on transoceanic flights,” Boom told news.com.au when asked about Australia’s interest. The company’s current target timeline is to roll out the aircraft in 2026 and have their first flight in 2027.

Boom expects to get type certification in 2029, which would allow Overture to carry its first passengers. “Construction on our final assembly line, called the Overture Superfactory, is well underway and anticipated to be complete next year,” Boom said. Overture is designed to run off sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and carry between 64 and 80 passengers at a speed of Mach 1.7 and altitude of 60,000 feet.

Boom’s piloted test aircraft XB-1, which the company says is the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet, underwent taxi testing this week and is expected to undergo its first flight this year.

Boom said XB-1 had received an experimental airworthiness certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, secured letters of authorisation to allow pilots Bill Shoemaker and Tristan Brandenburg to fly it, and letters of agreement with airspace authorities allowing flights over the Mojave Desert.

This article was originally published on news.com.au. It has been reproduced here with permission.

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