While the sheer speed, luxury and comfort of Concorde will always have a place in history, a UK-based firm has unveiled plans to go one step further. The HyperMach SonicStar, a supersonic business jet, would be capable of travelling at 2664mph, twice the speed of the iconic Concorde.

HyperMach revealed its ambitious plans at the 2011 Paris Air Show, which coincidentally was one of Concorde’s most familiar destinations, having been a passenger jet for both Air France and British Airways.

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While at the aviation show, Richard Lugg, Chief Executive, HyperMach said: “We have access to revolutionary engine technology and a unique very high speed aircraft design to make this kind of earth-shatteringly fast air travel possible. And we have a date. Our plan is to build and fly the world’s first very high speed supersonic hybrid aircraft by June 2021.”

The 20-seat aircraft will fly at 62,000ft, allowing passengers to see the curvature of the earth. At that height, the plane will have a cruising speed of Mach 3.1 thanks to hybrid gas turbine engine technology. The S-MAGJET 4000X engines will be 30 percent more fuel efficient than the Rolls-Royce engines used in Concorde.

Although avoiding a sonic boom and ensuring the aircraft is fuel efficient will be two major issues, HyperMach believes electromagnetic currents and hybrid engine technology will make the SonicStar a reality. A spokesman said: “The engine is a true hybrid. It generates massive electrical power on board using proprietary integrated turbine electromagnetic generation technology to segment each engine rotating component stage electrically.”