London–Sydney Flights on the Horizon — Twice as Fast as Concorde

A European project is developing an experimental aircraft designed to fly at Mach 5—more than twice Concorde’s cruising speed. At that velocity, future technology based on the aircraft could theoretically reduce a London–Sydney journey from around 20 hours to approximately three.

However, no Mach 5 passenger service has been announced. The programme, called INVICTUS, is building a reusable hypersonic research platform intended to test propulsion, materials and control systems near the edge of space.