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MUMBAI: Aerion Corp, the US-based aircraft manufacturer, received five pre-delivery orders for supersonic business jet (SSBJ) from India, said the spokesperson of the company.

The price tag of the aircraft jet is expected to be $80 million of each and the company plans the make the deliveries at the last quarter of 2014, said Peter Smales, the executive director for ExecuJet Aviation Group and the international sales representative of Aerion SSBJs, in a press meet.

The buyers have already paid an initial refundable deposit of Rs 1crore to order the supersonic jet aircraft.

Under the present rules, neither India nor a host of other countries like the US will allow supersonic flights in their airspace.

“We have got five Indian orders and 25 from other countries, excluding the US,” said Peter Smales.

Compared to the world wide order, India accounts for the largest share at present.

It is the speed which attracted the globe trotting Indian business tycoons – combining speeds of 1.15 Mach over land and 1.6 Mach over sea, beating the sound barrier of 760 mph(1 Mach). The aircraft is 1.6 times faster than the sound and it seats eight to 12 passengers in stand-up comfort as well.

The company refused to disclose the names of the five Indian supersonic jet buyers. And the company has not decided about the first customer.

Presently, the aircraft, with a range of 4,000 nautical miles, exists only in the form of design, although the company has obtained a patent for its unique wing structure.

“The Aerion supersonic business jet is a worthy business tool,” said Peter Smales.

According to Smales, a Mumbai-Singapore trip on a commercial jet aircraft would normally take around five hours where as an Aerion SSBJ would take only three hours.

“There is a lot of logic in having a supersonic business jet product in India with a plenty of wealthy entrepreneurs building their global empires,” said Smales. “We are extremely happy to have secured our first sales here. India has a tremendous market for aviation business,” he added.

A legal contract is expected to be signed with the Indian customers by the end of 2009 with a payment of $10 million for each plane, said Smales.

“The Indian corporates has grasped the idea very quickly. They identified the Aerion SSBJ’s potential to fly faster point-to-point than today’s conventional business jets, which saves the precious time and generates opportunity,” Smales added.

The company believes that the demand for supersonic business jets in India will grow to 300 with in 5-10 years.

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