Return of the Concorde is a long way off

New York, Frankfurt The dream of supersonic flight is over. At least that’s what Scott Hamilton says. The founder of the renowned specialist information service Leeham has analyzed the aviation industry for more than four decades. His assessment: “If there were a market for it, Boeing and Airbus would be part of it.”

But the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world are not. Boom, Aerion, Exosonic – these are the names of three start-ups that, decades after the end of the Concorde, are instead associated with the new version of civil supersonic jets. But their record is sobering. None have made it to a test flight so far.

Aerion worked with Boeing until the end and actually wanted to put its supersonic jet into operation in 2026. But in May 2021 the project was stopped because there was a lack of money. Exosonic wants to have its aircraft approved by 2029, but so far there are only design drafts. The company has been commissioned by the US Air Force to develop a study for an unmanned supersonic drone.