IATA SSCICAO CONC

Concorde

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The world's first supersonic commercial airliner.

First flight

1969

Category

Narrow-body jet

Seating

92–128 passengers

Range

7,250 km

Engines

Four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 afterburning turbojets

Status

Retired

The Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner developed jointly by France and the United Kingdom. It entered commercial service in January 1976 and represented a landmark achievement in aviation engineering, capable of cruising at Mach 2.04 at altitudes above 60,000 feet. Concorde operated primarily on transatlantic routes, reducing the London–New York journey to approximately 3.5 hours compared to roughly 8 hours on subsonic aircraft. Only 20 aircraft were built in total, with 14 entering commercial service exclusively with Air France and British Airways. Following a fatal crash of an Air France Concorde near Paris in July 2000 and subsequent economic pressures exacerbated by the September 11 attacks and rising maintenance costs, both operators retired the aircraft in 2003. Concorde remains a powerful symbol of supersonic commercial aviation.

Notable operators

Concorde was operated commercially exclusively by Air France and British Airways from 1976 until retirement in 2003.

Notable facts

›Cruised at Mach 2.04, approximately 2,180 km/h, more than twice the speed of sound.
›Only 20 airframes were constructed; 14 entered commercial service.
›The fatal Air France Flight 4590 crash on 25 July 2000 killed 113 people and led to a temporary grounding.
›Passengers experienced a slight curvature of the Earth and darkened sky at its cruising altitude of around 18,000 metres.
›Concorde's sonic boom restricted it to overwater supersonic flight, limiting viable commercial routes.

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This profile is provided for general information only. Specifications may be inaccurate or vary by variant/operator — verify with the manufacturer before relying on them.

Encyclopaedia

Concorde is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies began in 1954 and a UK–France treaty followed in 1962, as the programme cost was estimated at £70 million . Construction of six prototypes began in February 1965, with the first flight from Toulouse on 2 March 1969. The market forecast was 350 aircraft, with manufacturers receiving up to 100 options from major airlines. On 9 October 1975, it received its French certificate of airworthiness, and was certified by the UK CAA on 5 December.

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