Boom supersonic jet plan boosted by $10-mn JAL funding

JAL also agreed to take an option to purchase up to 20 aircraft, the two companies said in a joint statement posted on the carrier's website

Boom Technology, seeking to build a supersonic jet for passenger travel, got a $10 million investment from Japan Airlines Co. as the US start-up aims to revive ultra-fast travel that ended more than a decade back with the Concorde.

Japan Air also agreed to take an option to purchase up to 20 aircraft, the two companies said in a joint statement posted on the carrier’s website. The Asian carrier is the second company to publicly announce an intention to purchase Boom’s supersonic jet, after billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic.

Boom’s idea is to build a 45-to-55 seat aircraft that cruises at Mach