Airbus could help launch the world’s first private supersonic jet in as little as six years.

The AS2 plane will be capable of supersonic travel - hitting speeds of 1,217mph.

The ‘Son of Concorde’ would allow passengers to travel between London and New York in just three hours, and Los Angeles to Tokyo in six.

Airbus have partnered with Aerion for the private jet project and say they hope to choose a US manufacturing site for the jet during the first half of next year.

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If all goes to plan, test flights will take place in 2021, with the first commercial flights for businesses beginning in 2023.

Under the plan Airbus would provide all the major components, which could see the wings built at Broughton , where 6,000 people are employed.

Aerion – a company backed by Texas-based billion Robert Bass - will complete the final assembly.

“The collaboration between Aerion and Airbus Group has been extremely beneficial and productive,” said Allan McArtor, Chairman and CEO of Airbus Group, Inc.

“The further we proceed along the development path with Aerion, the greater our enthusiasm for this program and the deeper our commitment.

“Under our new agreement, our two companies are working as one to bring Aerion’s supersonic AS2 to the business jet market,” he added.

“This undertaking is completely in line with Airbus Group’s legacy of developing innovations in flight.”

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Doug Nichols, Aerion CEO, said: “Airbus Group has a long history of supporting innovation, and Aerion’s innovative aerodynamic technology unquestionably offers long-term benefits to the industry in terms of performance and efficiency,”

At the one-year anniversary of the Aerion/Airbus Group collaboration, the two companies drew back the curtains on engineering efforts that have proceeded quietly.

Notable accomplishments include preliminary designs for:

• A strong and light 10-spar carbon fiber wing structure;

• Fuselage and empennage structures;

• An innovative articulating main landing gear system that minimizes space requirements in the fuselage when stowed/retracted;

• A fuel system that is integrated with the digital fly-by-wire system for control of center of gravity;

• Flight control design that takes advantage of small, powerful actuators that can be housed in the AS2’s thin flying surfaces;

• A fly-by-wire system based on Airbus Group’s long experience with digital flight control technology.

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Aerion Senior Vice President for Aircraft Development Mike Hinderberger said: “We are doing the engineering work today that will allow us to build and fly a supersonic jet at the turn of the next decade.”