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If you want to go from Frankfurt Airport to New York, it still takes as long as it did 60 years ago. Because?
Frankfurt – From Frankfurt to New York: today it takes eight and a half hours, in 1961 it was even more than eight hours. Despite technical advances, why aren’t flights faster today than they were 60 years ago?
A TikTok channel got to the bottom of this question and fact-checked. To date, more than 2.3 million people have already clicked on the first part of the check. We took a closer look at channel analysis.
High-end Concorde: The machine landed only once at Frankfurt Airport
A look at aviation history shows that flights were sometimes faster in the 1970s than they are today. The absolute king of speed in civil aviation was Concorde. At 2,405 kilometers per hour, it took 100 passengers from London to New York in three and a half hours, according to aviation experts at Aviclaim to explain.
However, the machine from today’s manufacturer Airbus only landed once at Frankfurt Airport, as the local portal gg-Online writes. The high-speed aircraft was the first and only aircraft to carry passengers to their destinations at supersonic speeds. In 2003, Concorde made its last flight. Why don’t we fly supersonic today?
That’s why you don’t hear a sonic boom over Frankfurt Airport
There are several reasons not to travel by plane that breaks the sound barrier. Anyone who drives a big car will already have an idea of what could be one of the reasons. Similar to cars, fuel consumption increases with speed.
While a Boeing 747-400 needs 12,500 liters of fuel in one hour of flight, Concorde needed about 25,000 liters, about double, reports the aviation news portal aero-international.
Concorde consumed twice as much fuel as the slower competition
Even though jet kerosene costs a little less than car fuel, the fuel cost for a Concorde today would be $55,102.35 per hour. If you include tax breaks for flight operations, it’s still €38,328.17 per hour (as of December 16).
When the Concorde was still in operation, a ticket to New York and back cost between 4,500 and 11,000 euros, as br-alpha reported. In the past it was possible to fly faster, but only if you had the necessary change. Also, there was much less space in the supersonic machine than in modern aircraft. Concorde could only carry about 100 passengers.
The USA changes the law: civil supersonic flights are now possible
In addition to the high fuel consumption and limited capacity, one event in particular sealed Concorde’s temporary demise: a serious plane crash in 2000, in which all the passengers of the stricken supersonic plane lost their lives.
Concorde was even forbidden to fly over some countries during its short life. The reason for the ban was the bang that occurs during a rollover flight. In the United States, civilian supersonic flights were almost completely banned until 2019, like the aerotelegraph reported. But will supersonic flights remain history in the civilian sector?
Concorde successor? From 2029, supersonic flight will resume
If the start-up Boom Supersonic makes its way, from 2029 supersonic will fly again. American Airlines has already ordered 20 Overture-Jet planes, according to the Austrian innovation portal Trending topics writes.
According to the company, the new high-speed aircraft can carry between 65 and 80 passengers at 1.7 times the speed of sound. This is a little slower than the Concorde, but still much faster than the planes currently taking travelers to destinations around the world. Furthermore, the aircraft is not expected to emit any CO₂ emissions, as it must be powered by sustainable aviation fuel. (Lucas Mayer)
At Frankfurt Airport, passengers were recently shocked by the Condor flight with Smart Lynx.
