Daytripping to Europe?

SUPER FAST: The A2 plane could carry 300 passengers at a top speed of almost 6400 kmh.

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It's quiet, green and will get you from New Zealand to Europe and back within a day.

The A2 hypersonic jet is the bold new face of high-speed air travel, promising speeds of 6100km/h, or five times the speed of sound.

It maybe some years off, but the idea of a five-hour trip from New Zealand to London would open up a new era of day-tripping.

The proposed plane was dreamt up after the European Space Agency challenged scientists to design a commercial jet using space-travel technology. British firm Reaction Engines came up with the catchily-titled Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies (LAPCAT), otherwise known as the A2 project.

The jet is 142m long - twice as the length of the largest planes in service today - and carries more than 300 people.

The design is also being praised for its environmental credentials as it would burn a liquid-hydrogen fuel that gives off water vapour and laughing gas, instead of polluting carbon emissions.

- © Fairfax NZ News