Aerion now has commitments covering at least 20 of its proposed supersonic business jet (SSBJ) since it started signing letters of intent with prospective customers in November. The letters of intent come from 20 different clients in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America; operators committing to the program most recently include Pakistan-based executive charter firm Princely Jets and an undisclosed customer from India.
At a December 11 press conference in London, Aerion vice chairman Brian Barents said that it might take until the end of this year to conclude a production agreement with one of several possible OEM partners. The company had previously indicated that it might reach this stage by the middle of this year but insisted that a partnership at year-end will not compromise the rest of the projected timetable, which calls for a program launch in the second quarter of next year, first flight in the second quarter of 2012 and service entry by the end of 2014.
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