Would Qatar Airways (or whoever would be taking delivery of these) even have routes they could use these on? The Concorde (which was banned from flying over land) had an effective perceived noise of 105 decibels, and the Boom will have an effective perceived noise of about 75 dB if their calculations are correct. For comparison, that would mean that a Boom flying overhead would be about as loud as a hairdryer. I would assume that although lower than the Concorde, many would not appreciate being bothered such a noise even two times a day on repeat for multiple years (for reference, an alarm clock, a baby screaming, and a vacuum are at about 80 decibels). Other potential operators (by JAL and Virgin Atlantic) can take advantage of over-ocean flying, which Qatar (for most destinations) cannot.
Looking at Doha-London (a typical European destination), there would be a minimum of overflight over most of Europe and Syria. Even with overflight over the Mediterranean, you’d still need to fly (potentially) over Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, or Saudi Arabia (as well as the distance overland to the destination airport). Flying over these places at subsonic speed reduces the whole point of supersonic travel, as it increases journey time.
Looking at Tokyo, you see the same story. The range of the Boom is supposedly 8300km, about the distance between Doha and Tokyo. Flying below India, Sri Lanka, and cutting through Southeast Asia is far off of the great circle route, which means that the distance taken would be much longer (putting most destinations out of reach).
This is a map of the potential range of the Boom (it looks like Asia, Africa, and Europe would be usable from Doha). While coastal African destinations may be possible (think Cape Town for example), any destination inland (Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos, Dakar, etc.) wouldn’t be feasible without overland supersonic flight. Europe has the same story — most destinations are, to some degree, inland and would require significant overflight. And Asia has a similar issue, further compounded by the fact that Chinese airspace corridors would also reduce usable range. The whole point of an aircraft is to transport people from A to B. If you can’t use it to go where you’re going, then why buy it? I don’t mean to question the feasibility of the entire Boom project, but rather its use by operators like Qatar Airways, with limited actual usability.
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