The ‘Son of Concorde’ has taken off for the first time marking a major breakthrough in the return to supersonic air travel. The 100-foot-long plane lifted off from California’s Palmdale Regional Airport shortly after 10 a.

If you boil it down to the basic facts, the era of commercial supersonic flight was a European phenomenon. Concorde, its standard-bearer, arrived on the timetables on January 21 1976, as the fast fruit of a collaboration between Britain and France.

The supersonic Concorde jet makes its last commercial passenger flight, traveling at twice the speed of sound from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to London’s Heathrow Airport on03.

Boom Supersonic's 'Overture' could mark the return of supersonic air travel by 2029, cutting hours off UK to US flight time

French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot has said he is convinced that Concorde flights will resume -- despite the supersonic jet being grounded following the disaster near Paris two months ago.