Spike Aerospace already has orders for its S-512 supersonic jet, its CEO has reportedly said.

Reuters quotes Vik Kachoria as saying: “We already have two orders.”

He made the comments during an interview at the Global Investment in Aviation Summit in Dubai.

Kachoria didn’t give further details but said the orders were not from an airliner. However, he added that discussions with a commercial airline are ongoing.

Towards 2025

The S-512 will fly at speeds of Mach 1.6 (1,100mph) and it will carry 12-18 passengers. It is set to have a range of 6200nmi, allowing it to fly non-stop from London to Hong Kong or Dubai to New York. A larger 40-50 passenger supersonic jet is also in the early stages of design.

Spike Aerospace predicts that over 13 million people will be boarding supersonic flights by 2025.

To forecast demand for supersonic air travel, the company analysed the flight routes taken by the 4 billion global passengers that flew in 2017. Information on origin-destinations, distances travelled, types of passengers, cabin class and airlines was parsed to identify opportunity and potential demand.

The first Spike S-512 Supersonic Jets will be available by 2025, Spike says.

At Farnborough Airshow last year, Kachoria took part in a panel debate on the future of supersonic and hypersonic travel. Watch it again here: