London-New York in 3.5 hours: New supersonic plane with ‘gull wings’ unveiled

The latest designs for a supersonic jet with “gull wings”, which would enable flights between London and New York in 3.5 hours, have just been unveiled.

The Boom Supersonic Overture aircraft, which will travel at speeds of 2,100km/h (Mach 1.7) – a similar speed to Concorde – has been through 51 design iterations since work began on the project in 2017.

This latest model has been designed with 65 to 80 seats, with the hope that it will be flying commercial passengers by 2030.

Four smaller engines have replaced the original three in the design, while a revolutionary “automated noise reduction system” is set to make for a quieter aircraft.

“Gull wings” aim to increase speed and stability; a newly designed fuselage that’s larger at the front of the plane and smaller at the back should help reduce drag.

“Aviation has not seen a giant leap in decades. Overture is revolutionary in its design, and it will fundamentally change how we think about distance,” said Boom Founder and CEO Blake Scholl.

“With more than 600 routes across the globe, Overture will make the world dramatically more accessible for tens of millions of passengers.”

The idea is for the aircraft to fly at speeds of 2,100km/h – faster than the speed of sound – over the sea, and at slightly slower speeds overland.

Jets are prohibited from flying faster than the speed of sound overland in most countries due to the “sonic boom” effect, which sounds similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to the human ear.

Boom Supersonic says the Overture will enable travellers to get from London to New York in 3.5 hours, cutting 4.5 hours off the current journey time.

Flights from Sydney to Los Angeles would take an estimated 8.5 hours – five hours quicker than at present.