Would a flight delay matter if you could get from London to New York in 20 minutes?

Canadian designer Charles Bombardier reckons he has designed a model that could take passengers across the globe in 20 minutes.

Using a new technique called ‘Long penetration mode’, the Antipode as it is known could fly 10 passengers a full circuit of the globe in less time it takes Jose Mourinho's Manchester United team to labour to a dull draw.

The aircraft, in theory, would travel 10 times faster than Concorde and at 21 times the speed of sound. It could take off from a normal airport runway but then it would use 'supersonic combustion ramjet' engines to reach 40,000 feet before powering its way to a short trans- Atlantic.

Each plane would be fitted with emergency boosters in case the first landing, which would see the plane glide back down to earth, fails.

Do not get excited just yet, the designer himself does not expect this model to be the final one, but he is excited by the prospect of what technologies and advancements are made from this progress.

As reported by the Independent, Charles Bombardier said : “In the end, it’s not a practical idea – it’s a concept”.

"I know that it's not going to lead to the exact aircraft at the end, but it might help to develop new technologies and new processes. If it does, then that I'm happy that I did something to help society."

This is certainly a concept not a reality with the idea being to provoke discussion on the future of air travel.