First flown in 1969, Concorde was the first supersonic aircraft to go into commercial service in 1976 and made her final flight in 2003. She was operated primarily by British Airways and Air France. British Airways’ Concordes made just under 50,000 flights and flew more than 2.5m passengers supersonically. A typical London to New York crossing would take a little less than three and a half hours compared to around eight hours for a ‘subsonic flight’. In November 1986 a Concorde flew around the world, covering 28,238 miles in 29 hours, 59 minutes.
Today, Concordes can be viewed at museums across the UK and in France, including at IWM Duxford, Brooklands and Fleet Air Arm Museum, as well as at Heathrow, Manchester and Paris-Orly airports. However, there have been recent reports suggesting that Concorde may start operating commercially again. Through a series of key documents the book tells the story of how the aircraft was designed and developed as well as ground-breaking moments in her commercial history.
