London to New York in just three and a half hours

A company called Boom Supersonic has unveiled a prototype passenger aircraft capable of flying faster than twice the speed of sound.

The plane, nicknamed Baby Boom can reach mach 2.2 (2,716.5 kilometres per hour or 1,688 miles per hour) and plans to travel between London and New York in three and a half hours.

For many, the dream of supersonic passenger flight died in 2003 when the Concorde - the only commercial airplane to go faster than the speed of sound - was put into retirement.

Since then, Virgin Group founder and Boom Supersonic partner Sir Richard Branson, has been vocal about resuming supersonic airfare.

Branson announced his partnership with Boom Supersonic and explained his vision for their company's future.

"This is the first step on the journey to build the world's first privately developed supersonic jet and fastest civil aircraft ever." Branson said in a statement.

"This is the kind of innovation that will change the future of transportation and the future of how we do business".

Boom Supersonic says they plan to concentrate on overseas routes first, such as Sydney to Los Angeles, San Francisco to Tokyo, and London to New York, with supersonic testing slated to begin in late 2017 and commercial flights starting in 2023.