Priced at $120 million dollars a pop, the supersonic Aerion AS2 is probably not going to be in your average consumer’s price range. No, this aircraft is taking it’s “revolutionary” technology into the private sector with an 8-10 passenger hauler that can reach speeds of Mach 1.5. At $120 million dollars you can likely expect those with deep pockets will be able to take advantage of the Aerion AS2’s time savings between major world cities. Even with that huge price tag it seems flight service provider Flexjet has already placed an order for 20 AS2’s for a staggering $2.4 billion dollars.
https://youtu.be/21GBPZ-AVKw
“Throughout its history, Flexjet has been on the leading edge of aviation technology, introducing advanced performance to our Owners. Today, we are proud to be at the forefront of the next revolution in business jets, supersonic travel. We are pleased to be the first fleet purchaser of the Aerion AS2 and to be able to offer supersonic, intercontinental flight capabilities to our Owners,” said Flexjet Chairman Kenn Ricci.
“We have examined Aerion’s technology and the AS2’s remarkable performance capabilities, and see them as potential game-changers for business travel. Aerion and Airbus Group are moving forward impressively with the AS2’s development,” added Ricci.
Flexjet will be offering the first commercial supersonic jet travel since 2003 when British Airways retired the Concorde.The Aerion AS2 flies at a 990mph top speed and has a range of 5,466 miles, as you can see from the video that translates to some significant time savings for travelers. Aerion is also working with Airbus on the project and will soon have its own facility for manufacturing of the Aerion AS2. Flexjet expects to take delivery of their fleet in 2023 and the first Aerion AS2 flight is expected in 2021. It will be interesting to see if there is a market, even from the well-to-do, for this type of service. The design of the plane is unique and their technology looks to be sound, the partnership with Airbus should also be interesting to see if this tech can make it on a much larger scale.
What do you think of the Aerion AS2? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
[button link=”http://www.elitetraveler.com/features/hot-wheels-on-ice” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Elite Traveler[/button] [button link=”http://www.aerionsupersonic.com/flexjet-becomes-first-fleet-customer-for-aerion-supersonic-business-jet/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Aerion[/button]Last Updated on March 22, 2018.
