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Plans for two supersonic business jets are circulating at the Paris Air Show this week, a measure of how far the market has recovered from a slump after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The two planes, which exist only on paper, promise to chop more than a third off current flying times, with transatlantic trips in as little as four hours, compared to six or seven now.

Supersonic travel has not been offered to paying passengers since the last flight of British Airways' Concorde in 2003.

Manufacturers delivered a record 885 business jets worth USD$16.5 billion last year, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. In the first quarter of this year, they delivered 211, up 12 percent from the same time last year.

That's good news for plane makers offering their latest models in Paris - France's Dassault Aviation, Canada's Bombardier, and Cessna and Gulfstream from the United States.

But for the ultra-rich, a top-of-the-line business jet is no longer enough, with Boeing and Airbus taking orders from individuals for customized versions of their largest airliners.

Last month Boeing said it won an order for a private 787 Dreamliner from Hong Kong real estate tycoon Joseph Lau, worth about USD$150 million at list prices -- about three times as much as the costliest Gulfstream.

Airbus said this week it is negotiating a private order for one of its massive A380 superjumbos, which would seat 555 people if configured as a commercial airliner.

The next leap in business jets will be supersonic, according to two teams promoting the idea in Paris, even though most countries have regulations preventing sonic booms over land, and the fact that supersonic flight usually means high fuel costs and more pollution.

The biggest splash in Paris was made by Texas oil billionaire Robert Bass, a major investor in the Aerion Supersonic Business Jet, which is likely to cost USD$80 million if it ever makes it to market.

Bass is looking for partners to invest in the project, which may cost USD$2 billion over five years of development.

The jet is designed to fly up to Mach 1.6, much faster than the speed of sound and twice as fast as the quickest business jets today, according to executives of Aerion, the US company pushing the plane.

At the same time, advertisements for the Quiet Supersonic Transport plane appeared in daily aviation newspapers at the Paris show.

The plane is backed by J. Michael Paulson, the son of Gulfstream founder Allen Paulson. Promoted by a company called Supersonic Aerospace International, the plane is based on a design by Lockheed Martin.

Scheduled to be ready to fly in 2013, the plane will be only one hundredth as noisy as Concorde, according to the US company.

(Reuters)