US-based Aerion Corporation - an advanced engineering group formed in 2002 to reintroduce commercial supersonic flight – says that in the six months it has been accepting orders for the Aerion supersonic business jet, the company has received more than 40 Letters of Intent, backed up by refundable deposits of $250,000.

 
At a price of $80m per aircraft, the total backlog now stands at more than $3bn.

 
Aerion has an exclusive agreement with Pratt & Whitney for the use of a new variant of its JT8D-219 engine, and the company expects to certify the supersonic jet in 2014.

 
“Just two and a half years ago our market research indicated a market for 300 supersonic jets over ten years,” said Aerion vice chairman Brian Barents, “but that survey did not even include demand from countries such as India, China and Russia. If anything, we have underestimated global demand.”