See 7 supersonic passenger-jet concepts that will connect cities in as little as one hour and fly up to 9 times faster than the speed of sound

Associated Press

Supersonic commercial air travel started with Concorde in 1976, but there hasn’t been another ultra-high-speed plane since the jet’s demise in 2003. Lockheed Martin The Concorde was a supersonic commercial airliner, flying passengers at 1,350 miles per hour. High costs, safety concerns, and loud sonic booms forced the plane to retire in 2003. Several companies are trying to reintroduce supersonic air travel with new ultra-high-speed jet concepts. The age of supersonic commercial air travel started in 1973 with the first transatlantic crossing of the famous Concorde aircraft.Air France Concordeolrat/ShutterstockThe Concorde made its first supersonic passenger flight 40 years ago — this is what it was likeJointly developed by Aérospatiale — a predecessor of Airbus Industries — and the British Aircraft Corporation, the high-speed jet could fly up to 1,350 miles per hour, or twice the speed of sound.Associated PressSource: InsiderThe first passenger flight occurred on January 21, 1976, when British Airways flew the Concorde from London to Bahrain in just four hours — two and half hours faster than subsonic jets.Associated PressSource: InsiderAir France started Concorde operations the same day, flying from Paris to Rio de Janeiro via Dakar, Senegal.