Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Air France Concorde’s first commercial flight, a milestone in aviation history that redefined what was possible in passenger travel and remains one of the most iconic aircraft ever flown.
The Concorde project itself was born out of a bold Anglo-French collaboration, uniting Britain’s British Aircraft Corporation and France’s Aérospatiale. Designed to cruise comfortably at speeds exceeding twice the speed of sound, the sleek delta-winged aircraft embodied cutting-edge aerodynamics and engineering. Its development began in the early 1960s, at a time when the industry was dominated by subsonic jets. Years of tests, design refinement, and international cooperation culminated in the supersonic airliner’s arrival.
Concorde’s operational life was as remarkable as its design. With a typical cruise speed of Mach 2.02 (about 1,350 miles per hour) and service ceilings around 60,000 feet, the aircraft could fly from Europe to New York in under four hours, cutting traditional flight times nearly in half. Both British Airways and Air France operated Concorde services across the North Atlantic, with routes linking London and Paris to New York and Washington. Consider how cool it was to leave Paris at 8:30 pm after dinner and arrive in New York at 6:00 pm in time for another dinner…
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
