Airbus Group will one day deliver a supersonic aircraft that can connect Paris and Sydney within 3h, chief executive Tom Enders has told a French newspaper.
The statement attributed to Enders in Le Journal du Dimanche provides no firm details, but extends the company’s public interest in supersonic technology beyond business aviation and military aircraft.
In an interview Enders is challenged about whether Airbus has the appetite for revolutionary projects such as the Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde, which was co-developed by Airbus's predecessor.
Enders notes that Airbus has developed an electric-powered aircraft, the E-Fan, and adds: “We also have a team working on the devices at high and very high speed.
“The group has a tradition since Concorde and there is a real demand for high speed. One day we will connect Paris and Sydney in three hours.”
In addition to participating in production of the Eurofighter Typhoon, Airbus’s Defence and Space division last September agreed to colloborate with Aerion in the development of the latter’s AS2, a three-engined supersonic business jet scheduled for first flight in 2019.
Alan McArtor, chief executive of Airbus’ US-based subsidiary was asked in October if the Aerion partnership could be extended into a commercial project.
“Who knows? You never know where things are going to take you,” McArtor said. “We don’t have any plans now to introduce any kind of transonic technology.”
Airbus Group, while under its former brand EADS, promoted a near-hypersonic concept, designated ZEHST, during the 2011 Paris air show. The Mach 4 concept aircraft was not a formal project but part of a study on future technology, and intended to illustrate EADS's potential capabilities.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
