50 years after Concorde, US start-up eyes supersonic

Weybridge : Luxury air travel faster than the speed of sound: A US start-up is aiming to revive commercial supersonic flight 50 years after the ill-fated Concorde first took to the skies.

Blake Scholl, the former Amazon staffer who co-founded Boom Supersonic, delivered the pledge this week in front of a fully- restored Concorde jet at the Brooklands aviation and motor museum in Weybridge, southwest of London.

Boom Supersonic’s backers include Richard Branson and Japan Airlines and other players are eyeing the same segment. The company aims to manufacture a prototype jet next year but its plans have been met with scepticism in some quarters. “The story of Concorde is the story of a journey started but not completed -- and we want to pick up on it,” Scholl said.

The event coincided with the nearby Farnborough Airshow. “Today... the world is more linked than it’s ever been before and the need for improved human connection has never been greater,” Scholl said. “At Boom, we are inspired at what was accomplished half a century ago,” he added, speaking in front of a former British Airways Concorde that flew for the first time in 1969.