European aviation giant Airbus has filed plans in the US for a new supersonic aircraft which could fly at twice the speed of Concorde.
Airbus has filed its plans for a new aircraft which could travel at more than 2,500 miles per hour - or more than four times the speed of sound, with the US Patent Office.
It would also fly at an altitude of around 20 kilometres higher than current commercial aircraft, at around 100,000 feet.
The Airbus documents refer to the aircraft as an “ultra-rapid air vehicle” which would “substantially reduce” the noise emissions when the sound barrier is broken.
If such an airline is ever built, it will have the ability to fly from London to New York in around one hour.
The aircraft would carry up to 20 passengers and would be powered by “at least one” conventional jet engine, as well as one or more ramjets and a rocket motor fuelled by hydrogen and oxygen.
“The market envisaged is principally that of business travel and VIP passengers who require transcontinental travel with one day,” said Airbus in its patent application.
Airbus added that distances of 9,000 kilometres – Paris to San Francisco or Tokyo to Los Angeles – could be covered within three hours by the aircraft.
Details of the patent filed in the US are available here
