New York in 2 hrs

Branson plans breathtaking 2,300mph heir to Concorde

THE aviation industry has been crippled by the pandemic – but it hasn’t stopped Sir Richard Branson looking to the skies to bring back supersonic air travel.

Virgin Galactic and RollsRoyce have unveiled plans for a new 2,300mph airliner that could make a trip to New York from London possible in just two hours, or Sydney in five hours.

With its distinctive, sweeping delta wings, it looks more than a little reminiscent of Concorde – which could fly at 1,354mph and entered service in 1976.

It was retired in 2003, following the crash of Air France Flight 4590 three years earlier, which killed 113 people and was the only fatal crash in Concorde’s history. Virgin Galactic – which is not thought to be threatened by the woes of Sir Richard’s separate Virgin Atlantic – said it has signed an agreement with Rolls-Royce, which also built Concorde engines, to design and develop the new technology.

George Whitesides, chief space officer at Galactic, said Virgin was pleased to be working with RollsRoyce and The US’s Federal Aviation Administration, adding: ‘We’ve made great progress so far, and look forward to opening up a new frontier in high-speed travel.’

Travel in the new jet will only be for the elite and is expected to be many years away: as initial designs will carry between only nine and 19 passengers. Those on board will cruise at an altitude above 60,000ft and reach Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound.

The aircraft is expected to take off and land like any other passenger plane and is separate from Virgin’s project to send customers to the edge of space to experience weightlessness. A two-hour flight from London to New York would smash the current record, set by a British Airways Concorde in 1996 – of 2 hours, 52 minutes, 59 seconds.