Airbus patents jet that could fly from London to New York in an hour

Airbus claims hypersonic jet more than double the speed of Concorde

PHOTO: REUTERS



A flight from London to New York could take just one hour if Airbus has its way.

Airbus has patented a new aircraft involving turbojets and ramjets, a type of rocket motor, which it claims would reduce the journey time between London and New York to as low as an hour.

The US Patent and Trademark Office last month approved the application to patent an "ultra-rapid air vehicle and related method of aerial locomotion," about four years after it was filed.

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Airbus hopes that the jet would reach speeds 4.5 times the speed of sound, hence cutting off the travel time between the two cities to one hour which previously took the now retired Mach 2 Concorde three and a half hours.


A diagram taken from the Airbus patent


For all these years it took commercial aircraft about seven hours to cover the distance, however, this invention is likely to bring Airbus all the fame it needs among the "business travel and VIP passengers."

Further, not only does Airbus aim to cut the time taken on commercial flights, but also intends to use the hypersonic jet to cover a distance of 5,600 miles from Paris to San Francisco in just three hours.

Read: Saudi Arabian Airlines orders 50 Airbus worth $8bn

According to Business Insider, the company also sees a future for the jet in military operations, including "strategic reconnaissance, ultra-rapid transport of high added-value goods, and equipped elite commandos."

PHOTO: BUSINESS INSIDER


Run by Air France and British Airways, Mach 2 Concorde was deemed unfit due to a horrific crash in 2000 which reduced the number of passengers wanting to travel in the particular aircraft.

This article originally appeared on The Business Insider.

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