Japanese, French Companies to Develop a Supersonic Jet to Succeed Concorde
Japan, France to Jointly Develop a Supersonic Plane (Update5)
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese and French companies plan to develop a supersonic commercial aircraft to succeed Concorde, which stopped flying in October 2003 because of high fuel costs and slumping passenger numbers after a crash in Paris.
The companies will study ways to cut engine noise and reduce the weight of aircraft flying faster than the speed of sound, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a statement released yesterday in Tokyo. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co.'s spokesman Keiichi Sakamoto said Japan's biggest maker of aircraft jets may ``be involved in engine research.''
France, which spent $30 billion in today's dollars from 1956 to 1976 to develop Concorde with the U.K., wants to revive high- speed air travel after ending the world's fastest commercial flights with the Concorde. Ishikawajima-Harima, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. already make wings, fuselage and parts for Boeing Co.'s 787, designed to burn 20 percent less fuel than other aircraft.
``Bringing their respective advantages together should lead to the ability to offer highly advanced aircraft and services in the future,'' said Shoichi Nakagawa, Japan's trade minister, in a statement. The Japanese and French companies signed an agreement at the Paris Air Show yesterday to conduct a three-year study, according to the statement.
The 100-seat Concorde, with a cruising speed of 1,350 miles an hour, could take passengers from London to New York in less than three hours, compared with eight hours on other planes. The supersonic plane Japan is developing with France may cut flights between Tokyo and New York to six and half hours, compared with 13 hours on other aircraft, Agence-France Presse said.
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