CONCORDE-STYLE flights capable of blasting passengers from London to New York City in 3.5 hours have edged closer to reality after a major ban was lifted.
“Son of Concorde” maker Boom Technology has welcomed President Trump’s executive order that effectively lifts the 52-year ban on civil supersonic flight over land in the US.
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Tight restrictions on supersonic flights have been in place due to the loud sonic boom created by the shock waves from a flying object travelling faster than the speed of sound.
“America once led the world in supersonic aviation, but decades of stifling regulations grounded progress,” the White House said.
“This Order removes regulatory barriers so that U.S. companies can dominate supersonic flight once again.”
To hit supersonic speeds, an airplane needs to travel at 768 miles per hour.
But Boom Technology has been working on a jet that has no audible sonic boom.
The firm managed to make its XB-1 test jet fly faster than the speed of sound for the first time in January this year.
Writing on X, the company welcomed the latest move, saying: “Thank you, President Trump, for unlocking the future of faster and quieter travel.
“This presidential action comes after a bipartisan group of key Congressional leaders introduced the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act on May 14, 2025.
“The legislation calls on the FAA to revise the regulation prohibiting supersonic flight over land.”
After finishing tests with XB-1 in January, Boom is now focused on building a plane suitable for passengers called Overture.
Some 130 aircraft pre-orders have already been made by the likes of American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines.
The executive order does come with a set of rules that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been directed to impose.
An interim “noise-based certification standard” must be established that considers “community acceptability, economic reasonableness, and technological feasibility”.
Why did the Concorde fail?
CONCORDE was the supersonic passenger jet considered the ultimate luxury in air travel.
Air France and British Airways announced they would be retiring their fleet of Concorde planes on April 10, 2003.
The plane had its first commercial flight on January 21, 1976, so was retired after 27 years of service and 50,000 flights.
Several reasons led to the decision to retire Concorde.
Air France and British Airways cited low passenger numbers and high maintenance costs.
By the early noughties, the planes were outdated and expensive to run, despite being incredibly advanced when they were first introduced almost three decades previously.
The 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001 majorly impacted passenger numbers, as people opted not to fly.
Passenger numbers also fell after an Air France Concorde crashed just minutes after taking off from Paris in July 2000.
The disaster killed all 109 people on board and four others on the ground.
The plane ran over a small piece of metal on the runway, which burst a tyre and caused an engine to ignite.
It was also the only aircraft in the British Airways fleet that required a flight engineer.
Image credit: Alamy
Trump was presented with a miniature model of Overture earlier this year from Boom Technology’s CEO.
He suggested that Boom should manufacture Air Force One – the President’s personal plane – and made a dig at China President Xi Jinping.
“Air Fore Once should be supersonic. Xi [President of China] can keep his 747-8,” he wrote.
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Supersonic and Hypersonic Jets
There are several types of hypersonic and supersonic jets. A breakdown of what’s been happening in the industry and what’s expected in the coming years.
Talon-A
- Built by Stratolaunch
- Reported speeds of Mach 5
- The first test flight conducted in 2024
X-59 Quesst
- Built by Nasa and Lockheed Martin
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 1.4
- The first test flight in 2024 – but subject to delays
Venus Stargazer M4
- Built by Venus Aerospace and Velontra
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 6
- First test flight in 2025
Quarterhorse MKII
- Built by Hermeus
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 2.5
- First test flight in 2026
Halcyon
- Built by Hermeus
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 5
- First test flight by 2030
Nanqiang No 1
- Built by China’s hypersonic plane programme
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 6
- First test flight in 2025
DART
- Built by Hypersonix Launch Systems
- Predicted max speeds of Mach 7
- First test flight in 2025
