GE brings rebirth of supersonic passenger flights a step closer

Company completes its first design for the first commercial supersonic aircraft engine since Concorde

The Aerion AS2 is on track to become the world's first supersonic business jet. Reuters

General Electric has completed its initial design for the first commercial supersonic aircraft engine in decades, a major hurdle for developing private planes and, perhaps eventually, jetliners that fly faster than the speed of sound.

The twin-shaft, twin-fan design will slash travel times by hours after 50 years, during which the average speed of private jets has increased only 10 per cent, GE said. The engine is being designed for Aerion, a start-up backed by Texas billionaire Robert Bass, who has been trying to develop a supersonic business jet for more than a decade, according to Bloomberg.

"We're on track to fly in 2023, and before that year is out cross the Atlantic at supersonic speed, which will be the first supersonic crossing since the Concorde's retirement 20 years earlier," Aerion chief executive Tom Vice told Reuters.

The company said it would be able to take off and land without regulatory changes in the United States, a potential boost to efforts to bring back faster air travel.

“Instead of going faster, cabins have increased in size and become more comfortable and range has become longer,’’ Brad Mottier, GE vice president for business aviation, said. “The next step is speed.’’

The engine design bolsters Aerion’s goal of putting a supersonic plane in the sky next decade, Bloomberg said. Lockheed Martin is helping with design and production of Aerion’s AS2 plane, which would seat 12. Flexjet, which flies clients who buy fractional ownership of an aircraft, agreed in 2015 to buy 20 of the planes. Aerion is targeting the aircraft’s first flight in 2023, followed by a commercial debut in 2025.

The engine will be able to meet noise and emissions rules while flying faster than the speed of sound over water and decelerating to slower speeds over land. Most countries still ban breaking the sound barrier because of sonic booms. The booms and loud engine noise hobbled flights of the Concorde, contributing to the demise of the last supersonic commercial plane.

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Aerion is hardly alone in the race to develop civilian planes that fly faster than the speed of sound. Boom Technology, a Colorado start-up, is developing a 45-to-55 seat plane capable of connecting New York and London in about three hours. Virgin Atlantic Airways and Japan Airlines have said they intend to purchase the aircraft.

GE is paving the way for non-military aircraft to return to supersonic flight, Aerion chief executive Tom Vice said. The AS2 will fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound. If that plane is successful, Aerion is planning other aircraft including a commercial jet, he said.

“Our mission is to enhance global mobility with supersonic speed, starting with business aviation, and following with successively faster and larger designs for business and commercial aviation,’’ he said.

The next milestone for the GE engine is in 2020 when it will be ready to begin detailed design and “test-article production," Mr Mottier said.

Honeywell Aerospace will develop the cockpit for the AS2 and is "talking with everybody that's making supersonic aircraft," Carl Esposito, president of the company's electronic solutions business, told Reuters.