United Airlines will once again be flying from the United States and China with the return of service to Beijing and more flights to Shanghai.
27.07.2023 - 18:08 / smartertravel.com / Ed Perkins
Hypersonic flights from New York to London in two hours? Maybe in your lifetime, but only if you’re super-rich.
Boeing’s latest details about a hypersonic Mach 5 transport—which would fly at about 3,800 miles an hour—has generated a lot of opinions in both ink and pixels, but at this point it’s mainly hype. Boeing revealed a rendering of what the hypersonic jet might look like (above). But the main reasons that hypersonic flight technology is probably still on the distant horizon are economic.
How Realistic Are Hypersonic Flights? A Mach 5 plane would take a huge amount of energy—for a given size, almost certainly more than the Mach 2 Concorde, and the Concorde took a lot. Boeing’s drawings indicate a relatively small airplane, at probably fewer than the Concorde’s 100 passengers. Technological challenges mean that even if funded tomorrow, the plane could not actually fly until completion of a 20- to 30-year development program. Related:6 Big Travel Questions for 2018Although technically feasible, the Mach 5 plane would have to charge astronomical fares, probably double current full-fare business class or more. I’m sure airlines would find a niche market among the super-rich, but not among the general public, which is bad news for most of us.
This doesn’t mean that supersonic travel remains a pipe dream. For example, although the building of the Concorde jet for supersonic flights involved a huge loss to British and French taxpayers, British Airways made nice profits running it until 2003. It was grounded not because of poor economics, but because Airbus refused to support it on an ongoing basis.
When Hypersonic Flights Could ReturnA startup company called Boom is actively developing a small, 50-passenger Mach 2 plane that it claims will have economics better than Concorde’s. You might actually be able to fly on one within 10 years.
And even before that, several outfits are working on supersonic private jets, including some with a low enough sonic boom to operate over land. They will be too expensive for most ordinary travelers, but CEO egos don’t care about cost.
Readers: How much would you pay for hypersonic flights to cut your travel time in half?
More from SmarterTravel: Would You Board a Self-Flying Plane? 9 New Travel Trends to Watch in 2018 What It’s Like to Ride in Uber’s Driverless CarsConsumer advocate Ed Perkins has been writing about travel for more than three decades. The founding editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, he continues to inform travelers and fight consumer abuses every day at SmarterTravel.
We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review.
United Airlines will once again be flying from the United States and China with the return of service to Beijing and more flights to Shanghai.
A Portuguese airline will be soon be making its way to North America with new routes to three major cities next year.
I was raised in Italy and now live in Rome — every day, I see numerous tourists making mistakes during their trips here.
Airfare costs for domestic flights are expected to level off and even drop this month before rising again ahead of the holiday season, according to a new report.
Before I became a mother, people told me I'd miss rest. I thought that was silly. I had waited my whole life to have a baby, and in my mind's eye, all I saw was us doing things like walking everywhere hand in hand, baking in the kitchen, and singing together.
As someone who was born and raised in Toronto, I've observed plenty of tourists' missteps, from dining at overpriced restaurants to pulling out unwieldy maps on the street.
It just got easier and cheaper to escape to paradise with a flash sale from Air Tahiti Nui from Los Angeles.
Qatar Airways is putting flights across the world on sale, offering 30 percent off travel to everywhere from Bangkok to Sydney.
Chaotic schedules, safety issues, and lack of negotiation are a few reasons why aviation unions across Europe are striking.
On Tuesday, sky-watchers will enjoy a vivid and shining beacon in the southeast sky: the second full supermoon of 2023. The Full Sturgeon Supermoon, named for the sturgeon fish that appear in the Great Lakes region in August, will reach its largest size at 2:32 p.m. ET,according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. The lunar marvel will continue to appear exceptionally large and illuminated as it rises just after sunset.
If catching a meteor shower is on your 2023 bucket list, you’re in luck. Late July welcomes the peak of the Delta Aquariid meteor shower, with an average of 10 to 20 meteors per hour.
Editors’ Note: On October 1, 2018, Primera Air announced it will cease operations immediately. The following story was published on September 11, 2018.