ICAO Advances International Supersonic Flight Standards

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to new global supersonic aircraft noise standards in its February meeting, the company said Thursday.

The new standards enacted by ICAO’s recent Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) meeting brings Boom Supersonic one step closer to certifying its supersonic airliner, Overture. The company aims to accomplish this by 2030.

The FAA represented the U.S. at the international meeting in Montreal, Canada, where 33 member countries gathered to support new recommendations.

Last year, Congress passed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which told the FAA to continue developing international standards for supersonic travel. Boom Supersonic assisted the FAA by providing critical data for its analysis on supersonic aviation.

The company stated in its news release that those standards have now “come to fruition” at the recent CAEP meeting, which takes into account advanced noise reduction procedures to minimize the loud sound of the planes.

Overture is planned to have the same landing and takeoff noise footprint as today’s subsonic long-haul aircraft, according to the release. Unlike the Concorde, the Overture will take off without afterburners—reducing the noise level for take offs.

“Overture’s bespoke engine, Symphony, is a medium bypass ratio turbofan engine, which will be much quieter than Concorde’s turbojet engines with afterburners,” the release stated. “Overture will also have a Variable Noise Reduction System, which automatically manages thrust to reduce noise at take off.”

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 named “Baby Boom” created a sonic boom that could not be heard on the ground during a test flight demonstration in January 2025.

Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl said in the release that the company’s mission is to deliver supersonic travel to the world in a way that makes people feel excited when a supersonic route comes to their city.

“Thanks to the FAA and Congress, we are leading the way with the international community to adopt these new takeoff and landing noise standards,” he said. “Now that we have proven that we can break the sound barrier without an audible boom on the ground, we are working to update the overland speed limit regulation next.”