Concorde made its final flight over 20 years ago and supersonic air travel has yet to return. Here’s a look at its incredible history.
October 19, 20240
A British Airways Concorde plane.
Douglas McFadd/Getty Images
Co-developed by Britain and France, Concorde was the first and only supersonic commercial airliner.
British Airways operated its final commercial Concorde flight in 2003, ending its 27-year career.
The supersonic jet remains an icon of modern aviation and a technological marvel.
For a fleeting 30 years during the 20th century, supersonic commercial air travel was a reality. But on October 24, 2003, that era came to an abrupt end.
That day, British Airways operated its last commercial Concorde service from JFK International Airport to London Heathrow. Air France pulled its Concordes from service a few months earlier. Thus, it would be the Concorde’s last ever commercial flight in a career that started in January 1976.
The Anglo-French Concorde was co-developed by BAC, a forerunner of BAE Systems, and Aerospatiale, now a part of Airbus.
The supersonic jet has a storied history.
Concorde was never the commercial success for which its creators had hoped. Environmental and operational limitations of Concorde hampered its commercial appeal among airline customers. Only 20 of the planes were ever built, and just 14 of them were production aircraft. Concorde saw service with only two airlines — Air France and British Airways — on just two routes.
However, its lack of commercial success doesn’t diminish its role as an icon of modern aviation and as a technological marvel, one which plane makers and aerospace startups still talk about replicating.
Over 20 years after its last flight for British Airways, the world is still without a viable form of supersonic passenger service. Modern aviation startups have encountered similar financial and technological struggles in their efforts to produce new supersonic aircraft for commercial use.
Here’s a look back at the awesome history of the Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic airliner.
This article was originally published by Benjamin Zhang in October 2018. It was updated by David Slotnick in March 2020 and Talia Lakritz in October 2024.
As soon as Chuck Yeager crossed the sound barrier in 1947, commercial aviation companies began planning to take passengers past Mach 1.
Julian Amery, the British minister of aviation (right), and Geoffroy de Courcel, the French ambassador in London, signed an Anglo-French agreement for the development of Concorde.
AP
France and Great Britain each agreed to spend between £75 million and £85 million for the development of the plane, the Associated Press reported.
Together, Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation — predecessors of today’s Airbus and BAE Systems — agreed to produce a four-engine, delta-wing supersonic airliner.
At the same time, engineers in the US and the Soviet Union were working on supersonic airliners of their own.
A Concorde plane under construction.
AP
The above photo shows a Concorde plane being constructed at a British Aircraft Corporation factory in Bristol, UK, in 1967.
The engine selected to power Concorde was the Olympus 593 turbojet.
A Concorde jet flies through the air.
AP
Each engine produced 38,000 pounds of thrust.
Concorde had features found on no other Western commercial airliner, such as the double delta wing.
A Concorde with a downturned nose.
AP
In normal flight, the nose and visor were raised.
Concorde was operated by a crew of three: two pilots and a flight engineer.
Concorde’s official presentation in Toulouse, France.
Peter Kem, File/AP
Members of the French Army band and Royal Air Force band played for the occasion.
The first Concorde prototype made its maiden flight on March 2, 1969.
A sheet detailing airlines that ordered Concorde planes.
AP
The sleek supersonic jet captivated the public immediately.
But Concorde soon encountered opposition due to the loud sonic booms that resulted from breaking the sound barrier.
Andre Liblin, who advocated for banning Concorde, protests at the Paris airport.
ROQ/AP
As a result, Concorde flights were further curbed.
Because of environmental and economic concerns stemming from the 1973 oil crisis, most of the Concorde’s customers dropped their orders.
Concorde planes.
AP
Of the 14 production Concordes, seven entered service with Air France and seven entered service with British Airways.
On January 21, 1976, two Concordes — one from each airline — took off simultaneously to mark the plane’s first supersonic passenger flight.
A British Airways Concorde plane.
AP
Cruising at more than twice the speed of sound and an altitude of up to 60,000 feet, the Concorde could cross the Atlantic in just three hours, a major improvement over the seven hours it took for a conventional jumbo jet to make the crossing.
In the beginning, the 100-passenger interior was simple and a bit austere.
A Concorde flight.
AP
Soon, the Concorde became the preferred airborne choice of the rich and famous.
The Concorde transported celebrities and royal family members.
Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, sits on Concorde’s flight deck.
Press Association/AP
Ferguson earned her private pilot’s license in 1987, and was the first woman in the royal family to do so, UPI reported.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew to New York aboard a Concorde in 1997.
Sting and Piers Morgan on a Concorde flight.
Stefan Rousseau/Pool/Reuters
The two rubbed shoulders on a 2001 press flight, when Morgan was the editor of the British newspaper the Daily Mirror.
The Concorde even served as the Queen Elizabeth II’s royal transport.
Empty bottles of Champagne and a rack of glasses in front of a Concorde supersonic aircraft.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Concorde also had its own special sets of branded china.
The Concorde had a sparkling safety record until July 25, 2000, when an Air France Concorde burst into flames and crashed shortly after taking off.
Concorde planes on a tarmac.
AP
The planes were retrofitted with stronger fuel tanks.
Though the Concorde fleet returned to service in late 2001, the business never recovered.
Air France’s final Concorde flight.
AP
Onlookers waved goodbye to the Concorde as it climbed out of JFK Airport.
British Airways operated its last commercial Concorde flight on October 24, 2003, after it completed a farewell tour of the US.
A British Airways Concorde on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Timothy E. Black/AP
There are three places in the United States to see a Concorde on display: the Intrepid Museum in New York City, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
For many, the end of the Concorde represented not just the end of an era, but also a step backward for mankind.
Crowds watched a Concorde in flight.
REUTERS
Despite being a financial flop, the Concorde’s status as a technological marvel remains unblemished.
We no longer cross the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound. And we may never again.
