Hunter58,
I do belive the correct number is more like 4 return flighs per day, but that's not all.
From what I can tell, the Sonic Cruiser will be not be nearly as environmentally challenged as the Concorde, and as such will not be restricted to ocean crossing flights only. Further, the Concorde never had the legs to cross the bigger of the ponds, whereas Boeing claims a range of around 9000NM for the Sonic Cruiser.
Having longer legs and being far less noisy, especially on departure and approach, the Sonic Cruiser will be able to link city pairs which the Concorde never could. If you care to read the article, Emirates has expressed an interest. So has Singapore. And I am rather sure none of those intend it to do pondcrossers only.
And yes, there is an abundance of business travellers who would just love to spend 2 hours at an important meeting rather than being stuck in a alu-tube instead. You see, if you split these high-flyers wages up on an hourly basis, the amount will in many cases surpass the extra charge and consequently the company they are flying for will actually SAVE money ! You might as well have asked "Are there anybody out there willing to pay USD 45 Mill for a privat jet so that they can decide for themselves when to fly ?". It all boils down to the same thing: Time is money, and many people value their time at an exceedingly high amount of money.
The real bugger here is the costs for the airlines, and that I understand remains to be calculated. If fuel prices skyrocket again, it's in all likelihood dead, but at present levels and with a somewhat decent fuel economy it might just turn out to be a winner.
Then again, I'm a born optimist
DT
[This message has been edited by Juliet November (edited 08 April 2001).]