Although it has been nearly two decades since Concorde SST last flew, the islands have always been part of supersonic flight schedules. As of now, United Airlines plans to bring back supersonic air travel. And with these plans, the possibility of two-hour flights to Hawaii is returning.
Did you know that supersonic plane travel to Hawaii is nothing new? We honestly didn’t remember it ourselves. Read on for the details.
Supersonic for business travel, upscale leisure travel and private flight replacement.
While the first plans for new supersonic plans are certainly going from New York to London, for example, Hawaii will not be far from people’s minds. Also, what is now called “bleisure travel” is one of the target groups. It’s a fusion of business and leisure travel, where you can, say, come to Honolulu for a meeting and then turn it into a high-end vacation.
Boom Supersonic and Hawaii-Centric United Airlines.
Boom supersonic just sealed its deal with United Airlines. Boom said, “United will purchase 15 of Boom’s ‘Overture’ aircraft once Overture meets United’s demanding safety, operational and sustainability requirements, with an option for 35 additional aircraft. The plane, scheduled to carry 2029 passengers, will fly on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).”
Boom is an American (Colorado-based) company to develop a 1,300 mph supersonic aircraft with seating for 65 to 88 passengers. It is said to have a range of 4,250 nautical miles and be ready to carry passengers at supersonic speeds in 2029.
Scott Kirby, United CEO, said, “Boom’s vision for the future of commercial aviation, combined with the industry‘s most robust route network in the world, will provide business and leisure travelers with access to a superior in-flight experience.” will be able to develop a niche for some Hawaii flights.
Is that real?
We’d say it probably is. The company will lay the foundation stone for its huge production facility this year. Additionally, the Boom XB-1 prototype/demonstrator aircraft was launched in 2020 and its carbon neutral flight test program is currently underway. This is not to say that this development does not still face major obstacles of the kind that exist.
Possible routes and prices for supersonic aircraft to and from Hawaii.
West Coast markets to Honolulu and Maui include the Bay Area (San Francisco or Oakland) and Los Angeles (2.25 hours). International destinations include Sydney, Australia (4 hours) and Tokyo, Japan (3 hours). Domestic flights other than surface will not happen due to the sonic boom which, while said to be less booming, will still be an issue.
As far as ticket prices go, we can’t tell what the fares for the Overture jets might be, but we expect them to be a bit higher than the typical first-class fares Hawaii visitors now pay.
Timeline of supersonic jets.
The first Boom Overture aircraft, a carbon-neutral supersonic aircraft, is scheduled for completion in 2025. From 2026, subsonic test flights will follow at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The aircraft is the first airliner designed to run exclusively on 100% sustainable aviation fuel.
Did you know that supersonic flights to Hawaii are nothing new?
Supersonic cruises in Hawaii were once planned, tested, and tried. As early as 1987, a charter airline planned to bring regular supersonic flights to Hawaii. From Oakland to Honolulu in just over 2 hours was the plan touted at a news conference attended by officials.
In fact, Air France flew a series of five Concorde charter flights to test the concept, which would cut flight time to Hawaii by more than half from five to six hours. These flights flew at 1,400 miles per hour, or Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound achieved in 20 minutes in the air. Flying supersonic at about 60,000 feet, passengers could also see the curvature of the earth.
Other Concorde charters have included landing in Hawaii on a supersonic round-the-world flight. Kona on the Big Island was the station. It was flown by a tour operator using Hawaii as the first stop on a 24-day RTW trip. In our opinion, this happened six times. The next stop after Hawaii was Nadi, Fiji.
Tour operator Robert Ford said: “We wanted a relaxed first stop where passengers could really relax. Kona worked beautifully.” Hawaii Tourism‘s Ken Johnston said at the time that the supersonic flight to Kona was a credit to the Big Island.
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