Boom Supersonic of Denver, Colorado announced on Jan. 26 that they have selected Piedmont Triad International Airport, located on the west side of Greensboro, North Carolina as the future site of their first full-scale manufacturing facility called the Overture Superfactory.
The manufacturing facility will consist of the final assembly line test facility, along with an aircraft delivery center for customers. The factory is being built for their supersonic airliner called the Overture. The announcement came with an event at the airport attended by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.
"It is both poetic and logical that Boom Supersonic would choose the state that’s first in flight for its first manufacturing plant," Cooper said in a press release.
The factory will be built on 65-acres of land at Piedmont Triad International Airport, with the facility encompassing around 400,000 square feet. Boom Supersonic is scheduled to break ground on the site of the Overture Superfactory later in 2022.
“With some of the country’s best and brightest aviation talent, key suppliers, and the state of North Carolina’s continued support, Boom is confident that Greensboro will emerge as the world’s supersonic manufacturing hub,” said Blake Sholl, Boom Supersonic founder and CEO in a press release.
By 2030, the company is estimated to bring more than 1,750 jobs to the tar heel state and 2,400 jobs by 2032. In the release, Boom Supersonic and economists estimate the factory will help grow North Carolina’s economy by at least $32.3 billion over the next 20 years.
“Ever since the Wright Brothers but even more so today, the aviation and aerospace sector drives a significant part of the North Carolina economy,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders in a press release.
The roll out of the first Overture aircraft is scheduled to occur in 2025, with the first flight scheduled for 2026.
The Overture will be the third commercial supersonic airliner behind the now retired Soviet Tupolev TU-144 — which last flew in 1978 — and the Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde — which last flew in 2003.
The airliner is slated to fly passenger flights in 2029 and both Japan Airlines and United Airlines have ordered aircraft from Boom. The U.S. Air Force has also shown interest in applications of the future aircraft.
Boom Supersonic is currently preparing their prototype aircraft, the Boom X-1 demonstrator for its first flight later this year.