Mockups of the cabin look suitably plush.UBS, a bank, thinks supersonic travel has a future.It puts the cumulative size of the market at between $80bn and $280bn by 2040,depending on regulatory hurdles and whether the planes are delivered on time, on budget and operate as promised.Mr Scholl is eyeing the upper end of that range, a potential market for 1,200 Overture 1s at $200m each.Then he hopes to make progressively bigger craft offering lower fares and higher speeds.Spike, another American firm with supersonic ambitions, is developing an 18-seat business jet that doesn’t make a loud boom.Is this pie in the sky? A distant caveat-strewn commitment is good publicity for United and for Boom when it seeks more funding.It is unlikely that much cash has yet changed hands.Overture 1 is not set to enter service until 2029.Aerion, another firm that hoped to build an 8-10-seat business jet,unexpectedly folded in May despite orders worth more than $11bn and backing from Boeing, America’s giant aeroplane-maker.National regulations banning supersonic speeds over land rule out trips across North America, home to lots of business travellers and most of the world’s business jets.
