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The Sonic Cruiser was floated shortly after the launch of the Airbus A380 by rival Airbus. Instead of the A380's massive capacity, requiring a hub and spoke model of operation, the Sonic Cruiser was designed for rapid point-to-point connections for only 250 passengers. With delta wings and flying just short of the speed of sound at 0.95 Mach (1131 km/h), the Sonic Cruiser promised 20% faster speed than conventional airplanes without the noise pollution caused by supersonic Concorde's sonic boom.
However, according to Boeing's own estimates the Sonic Cruiser would also burn 15-20% more fuel for the same trip than conventional aircraft. Most airlines favored lower operating costs over a marginal increase in speed, and the project did not attract the interest Boeing had been hoping for. The Sonic Cruiser project was eventually abandoned in favor of the slower but fuel-efficient Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner.