Boom Supersonic, the company commercialising sustainable supersonic airliners, yesterday revealed that Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina will be the site of its first plane factory.
Running on sustainable aviation fuel, its supersonic airliner will carry up to 88 passengers at twice the speed of today’s fastest passenger jets, the company said.
The 37,000-sq-m factory will be sited on a 65-acre campus at Piedmont Triad International. Boom expects to break ground later this year and to begin production in 2024. The first aircraft is slated to roll out in 2025, fly in 2026, and carry its first passengers by 2029.
Blake Scholl, Boom Supersonic’s founder and chief executive, said: “With some of the country’s best and brightest aviation talent, key suppliers, and the state of North Carolina’s continued support, Boom is confident that Greensboro will emerge as the world’s supersonic manufacturing hub.”
North Carolina, home to the site near Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers made the first powered flights, also has access to technical schools, tier-one aerospace suppliers, and proximity to Atlantic Ocean for flight tests.
Boom said the factory would bring more than 1,750 jobs to North Carolina by 2030 and grow the state’s economy by some $32bn over 20 years.
“It is both poetic and logical that Boom Supersonic would choose the state that’s first in flight for its first manufacturing plant,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. “Like the success of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, this innovative company will succeed by transforming passenger air travel with speed and sustainable energy.”
Boom said it has some $14bn worth of orders and options from United Airlines and Japan Airlines – amounting to 70 aircraft. Boom is also working with the United States Air Force on government applications of the technology.
