Flexjet just ordered 20 of Aerion’s $ 120 million supersonic jets – Robb report

Supersonic jet maker Aerion recently announced that flight service provider Flexjet has placed a firm order for 20 examples of the Aerion AS2 supersonic jet – for which the company started taking orders last year – making Flexjet the first fleet operator for the aircraft the first supersonic jet available to the public since the end of the commercial supersonic journey in 2003.

Each plane costs $ 120 million, for a total order potential of $ 2.4 billion. Aerion says the AS2 will carry 8 to 12 passengers in a 30-foot-long cabin at speeds as fast as Mach 1.5 (990 mph). With a range of up to 5,466 miles, the AS2 cuts transatlantic travel time by 3 hours and shortens transpacific routes by 6 hours or more.

Flexjet president Kenn Ricci called the aircraft a “potential game changer for business travel.” Flexjet and Aerion will work together to design a custom premium cabin interior for the Flexjet fleet. Aerion says that for busy international travelers, all that extra speed quickly translates into more productive days and even weeks over the course of a year. For example, a typical long-haul business jet that would fly around 250,000 miles per year would fly for around 500 hours, while the same miles could be flown in the AS2 in around 300 hours. The difference for travelers is equivalent to 25 eight-hour working days.

Aerion also announced that its partnership with Airbus Group has grown and that the company is now looking for a site to build a manufacturing plant. Airbus will expand the resources it contributes to the program, including engineering, logistics planning and management support. “The more we move forward on the development path with Aerion, the greater our enthusiasm for this program and the deeper our engagement,” said Allan McArtor, President and CEO of Airbus Group. “As part of our new agreement, our two companies are working together to bring Aerion’s supersonic AS2 to the business jet market.” The first flight is scheduled for 2021, with the first deliveries of the aircraft scheduled for 2023.