With the number of for-sale preowned-aircraft shrinking, shoppers are increasingly considering the purchase of new jets.With the number of for-sale used ai
Credit: Aerion
Since Concorde’s demise in 2003, industry consensus has been that business aviation and its demand for higher speed will lead a civil supersonic transport revival.
Aerion Supersonic, a pioneering company backed by U.S. billionaire Robert Bass, has been in the forefront of this resurgence for the past 18 years. Propelled by the unshakable belief that speed sells, the company’s supersonic aircraft concept has evolved through several design cycles into the arrow-wing Mach 1.4 AS2 business jet.
As the design was finalized over the past two years, so was the industrial team to bring it to reality. With aerospace heavyweights Boeing, GE Aviation and Spirit AeroSystems among the AS2 group members in 2019, the project looked to be gathering momentum. By early 2021, having attracted commitments for more than 90 aircraft valued at over $11 billion, Aerion was on the brink of full-scale development at a new facility in Melbourne, Florida. Production was expected to start i
The rise and fall of Aerion
Yuvan Kumar
28th May 2021, 9:35
It all began in 2004, when Texan billionaire Robert Bass decided to re-commercialise supersonic aerial travel by launching Aerion Supersonic. By 2021, it had a backlog of $11.2bn – or 93 orders – for its AS2 supersonic jet. And soon after announcing the near-hypersonic AS3, a new concept, the company ground to a halt, shutting down unexpectedly last weekend.
At $120m each, the Mach 1.4 AS2 promised to connect any two points on Earth
“in three hours or less” by 2027. Industry veteran Dr Richard Tracy spearheaded the vision for supersonic business travel, alongside ex-Gulfstream and Rolls-Royce engineer, Michael Hinderberger and others.
Aerion appeared to have a lot of momentum with season veterans, strong suppliers, and a headquarters site but was unable to convince financial markets.