On the feasibility of point-to-point rocket-propelled passenger travel, let's ignore the technical feasibility (velocity, ballistic or powered trajectory, etc.) and focus on the economic.
@bb-15 describes the Singapore Airlines 19-hour SIN-EWR (it's Newark Liberty, not JFK) flight as the current technological limit. As a baseline and with round numbers, let's say any ocean-crossing flight is 10 hours and (business-class ticket) $5,000. If you cut the flight in half, but charged twice the fare, how much of a market do you have -- that is, how many passengers a year can you attract? If one hour at $50,000, how many?
Working from the other direction -- Virgin Galactic charges $750,000 for a thrill ride. Can they reduce their price by a factor of 15 to $50,000 and provide a point-to-point service?
This is the same calculus faced by Concorde and by the new crop of low-boom supersonic aircraft developers. Is there a solution that maximizes revenue? Does it justify development cost? More generally for any airline, can you build a network with sufficient demand? U.S. carriers have trouble with profitability in part because they serve a lot of low-traffic routes; the Gulf carriers like Etihad have found a lucrative niche in long-haul between limited cities. If VG picked any single route, like NYC-TYO or LAS-LON, what's the market? If you have to schlep to their hub, does that negate the appeal of a zippy ocean crossing? But if they expanded the market with multiple routes, what's the operational cost?
