New 'Concorde' on brink of cutting flight time between London and New York to 4 hours

A high-tech new supersonic aircraft dubbed the 'son of Concorde' could slash flight times between New York and London to less than four hours. The futuristic X-59 is now in the taxi testing stage, which means manoeuvring the plane on the ground at varying speeds, to assess handling characteristics, performance, and system behaviour before flight, particularly during takeoff and landing.

For years, different manufacturers have been exploring how to bring an aircraft with the capabilities of Concorde back to the skies. The Anglo-French supersonic passenger aircraft was the envy of the world, and flew from 1976 until 2003, when the jet was grounded. The move came three years after the only deadly crash involving the plane, which killed all 109 people on board.

A British Airways Concorde, which had a cruising speed of around 1,354 miles, carried out its fastest-ever London to New York Atlantic crossing in an incredible 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds on February 7, 1996. The race to find a successor to Concorde is hotting up, and NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft has officially begun taxi tests, marking the first time this one-of-a-kind experimental aircraft has moved under its own power.

NASA test pilot Nils Larson and the X-59 team, made up of NASA and contractor Lockheed Martin personnel, completed the aircraft's first low-speed taxi test at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on 10 July.

The taxiing represents the X-59's last series of ground tests before first flight. Over the coming weeks, the aircraft will gradually increase its speed, leading up to a high-speed taxi test that will take the aircraft just short of the point where it would take off.

During the low-speed tests, engineers and flight crews monitored how the X-59 handled as it moved across the runway, working to validate critical systems like steering and braking. These checks help ensure the aircraft's stability and control across a range of conditions, giving pilots and engineers confidence that all systems are functioning as expected.

The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA's Quesst mission, which aims to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight by reducing the loud sonic boom to a quieter "thump."

The aircraft is projected to fly is Mach 1.5, or approximately 990 mph (1,590 km/h), meaning it could potentially fly nonstop from London to New York in approximately 3 hours and 44 minutes. Normal commercial flights generally take around 7-8 hours.

In 2023, the NASA investigated the business case for supersonic passenger air travel aboard aircraft that could theoretically travel between Mach 2 and Mach 4 (1,535-3,045 mph).

Data gathered from the X-59 will be shared with U.S. and international regulators to inform the establishment of new, data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land.

Concorde's last commercial flight, from New York to London, occurred on October 24, 2003.

The aircraft was grounded following the Air France Flight 4590 disaster on On July 25, 2000. The ill-fated plane crashed shortly after take-off from Paris with all 109 occupants and four on the ground killed. This was the only fatal incident involving Concorde.

According to British Airways, a typical London to New York crossing would take a little less than three and a half hours on Concorde, as opposed to about eight hours for a subsonic flight.

Concorde measured nearly 204ft in length and stretched between 6 and 10 inches in flight due to heating of the airframe. It was painted in a specially developed white paint to accommodate these changes and to dissipate the heat generated by supersonic flight.