Aviation experts slam promises made by 'new Concorde' firm as 'complete bulls**t'

"We don't do it for the money, we do it for the glory."

That's what motivates Pano Churchill, CEO ofConcorde Corp, an aviationcompany that has burst into the public consciousness in the past month with some truly eye‑catching, extraordinary claims.

It has promised to produce the "fastest commercial supersonic aircraft EVER BUILT", cutting the journey time from New York to London in three, to just two hours and 12 minutes.

The jet will also be not just green, but "the most sustainable aircraft in history”. New Concorde will also reportedly smash through the sound barrier without producing the famous sonic boom that rattled so many window frames during the original's 34 years of commercial flying.

READ MORE: 'Concorde's final flight was 20 years ago - the supersonic jet was always doomed'

So claimed Mr Churchill in an exclusive interview with the Mirror. He also pledged that such technological marvels would be achieved by next year, with paying customers up in the air by the end of 2027.

Such big claims deserve serious scrutiny, especially given no commercial passenger jet has taken to the air since Concorde was grounded in 2003. So I asked one of the most experienced academics in the business — Dr Guy Gratton, Associate Professor of Aviation and the Environment at Cranfield University — for his perspective on whether Concorde Corp's promises pass the smell test.

I also spoke to the American aviation firm Boom, to compare its long‑held efforts to create the "world’s first independently developed supersonic aircraft" with those outlined by Concorde Corp.

Here are Concorde Corp’s big claims and what the experts think of them:

'The new plane will be flying customers by the end of 2027'

Mr Churchill told me that the company will be starting certification flights with the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington in the second quarter of 2026, before flying commercially in 2027. "We will begin with a loop of the Earth, a luxury bucket list item," he claimed, before sending me a 'Concorde boarding pass' for the debut flight, which apparently costs $100,000.

Dr Gratton was unmoved by the claims. "Flying by the end of 2027 is complete bulls**t," he told the Mirror.

"I used to be a flight‑test engineer. If you’ve completed the design of this plane, if everything goes spectacularly well, it might be up in the air in five years. Programmes have gone bust, failing to achieve certification. The cost of something like this is eye‑wateringly huge. The cost of certification of the Boeing 747 14 years ago was about $21 billion. They (Concorde Corp) would need $200 billion, honestly."

Mr Churchill repeatedly refused to say where the new plane would be built.

Concorde Corp's claims contrast quite clearly with the work ongoing at Boom, which was founded in 2014 and began design work on its XB‑1 supersonic demonstrator aircraft in 2016. That aircraft flew for the first time in 2024 following an extensive ground‑testing program, with 13 test flights completed over an 11‑month period last year in Mojave, CA.

A spokesperson told me: "This was a years‑long effort to design and build the world’s first independently developed supersonic aircraft, and safely fly it at supersonic speeds with a pilot onboard. Now that the flight test program for XB‑1 is complete, Boom is fully focused on scaling up the learnings and applying them to the Overture airliner, the supersonic aircraft that will carry passengers.

"The design and development work on Overture has been ongoing since the company began. Boom Supersonic completed construction on its Overture Superfactory in 2024, and is now also rapidly developing the Symphony propulsion system for Overture. Boom’s current order book of 130 orders and pre‑orders from United Airlines, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines accounts for the first five years of production at the Superfactory."

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'Concorde Corp has the right to use the name Concorde'

Mr Churchill tells me that his company has the trademark for the name "in the US" and that Airbus has "lost any rights" to use it when it comes to naming a plane. I contacted Airbus to ask whether the company owns the worldwide rights to the name Concorde, but they did not comment. Airbus does seem to own the rights in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy and France at least, if online filings are correct. If a 'new Concorde' does take to the skies, it'll be interesting to watch whether Airbus takes any legal action regarding the name.

'It will be the most sustainable aircraft in history'

Mr Churchill claims that the internal construction of the plane would be 50% lighter than that of other aircraft due to a "combination of new materials". If possible, this would reduce the amount of fuel required dramatically.

The new plane would also fly on 10 % sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by year two, he claimed, and have its emissions reduced significantly by cruising at 55,000 feet.

Dr Gratton did not pour cold water on the new, lighter materials claim, noting how much lighter planes have become since carbon‑composites were introduced in construction. However, he did suggest a 50 % reduction would be a huge challenge.

He did dismiss the impact that using SAF would have, and the company's ability to acquire enough of it. Dr Gratton highlighted a Royal Society study he worked on, which concluded that replacing kerosene (jet fuel) with biokerosene (SAF) on a serious scale would take impossibly large amounts of land and be ruinously expensive.

"We estimate that for Britain to produce all of its own, you’d need to use two-thirds of all the arable land. A supersonic jet like Concorde burns a lot more fuel per passenger‑mile than a modern much more efficient airliner. It is not remotely viable," he said.

Boom is also embracing SAF, and echoes Mr Churchill’s claims that flying at higher altitudes can reduce the impact of some harmful emissions.

Its spokesperson said: "Overture and its Symphony engine are forward‑compatible with up to 100 % sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that approaches net zero when synthesized with solar or nuclear power. As these fuels are adopted, Overture will decarbonize twice as quickly as the legacy fleet, which can only run on 50/50 blends — while providing the irreplaceable value of time and human connectivity to its passengers. Contrail avoidance on Overture is based on the aircraft’s higher cruising altitude, up to 60,000 ft. Contrails do not form as easily at higher altitudes."

'It will be a sonic‑boom‑free plane'

A major issue with the original Concorde, and a big reason why it was eventually grounded for good, was that it couldn't be flown on many overland routes as its sonic boom was too disruptive and destructive.

Mr Churchill claims his new plane will negate this problem by sucking up the boom, comparing the tech that’ll do so to noise‑canceling headphones.

According to Dr Gratton, this tech does exist and was developed by NASA. Boom plans to use it on its aircraft.

"As a supersonic aircraft flies, every leading part of the aircraft creates a shockwave; that shockwave creates a sonic boom. That NASA tech has shaped the aircraft so as they move away from the plane in flight, those shockwaves interact with each other and cancel each other out," he said.

'The 'New Concorde' will print money'

Mr Churchill claims that "the new Trump ruling means we'll be printing money, hand over fist", highlighting the fact the firm is selling'Supersonic Concorde Coins',which appear to be a kind of cryptocurrency.

The Trump ruling in question came in June, when the US President ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to scrap a longstanding ban on supersonic air travel across the US and replace it with a to‑be‑determined set of regulations that will allow faster‑than‑sound travel so long as the sonic booms it creates do not breach certain noise limitations.

While this may boost demand for supersonic aviation, this is only one of themajor problems facing the launch of a new jet of this kind. The original Concorde ended up being a money sink, thanks to the huge cost of fuel and aircraft development, and the need for backup aircraft at its main airports.

How Mr Churchill and Concorde Corp plan to navigate these major issues within the next two years remains to be seen.