At a glance

Figures the sources actually give

First flight

The Concorde made its first flight on 2 March 1969.⁠¹ National Museums Scotland says the first flight was on 2 March 1969, when the 001 prototype took off from Toulouse.⁠²

First transatlantic crossing

The Concorde made its first transatlantic crossing on 26 September 1973.⁠¹ National Museums Scotland describes that first non-stop Atlantic crossing as a French aircraft flying from Washington to Orly, Paris, in three hours and 33 minutes, at an average speed of 954 mph.⁠²

Scheduled service began

Scheduled supersonic passenger service began on 21 January 1976: British Airways initially flying from London to Bahrain, and Air France from Paris to Rio de Janeiro.⁠¹

Aircraft in service

Only 14 of the aircraft actually went into service.⁠¹

Maximum cruise

The Concorde had a maximum cruising speed of 2,179 km (1,354 miles) per hour, or Mach 2.04 — more than twice the speed of sound — allowing the flight time between London and New York to be reduced to about three hours.⁠¹

Typical London–New York time

British Airways says a typical London to New York crossing would take a little less than three and a half hours, as opposed to about eight hours for a subsonic flight.⁠³

Fastest recorded crossing

Concorde’s fastest transatlantic crossing, according to British Airways, was on 7 February 1996, when it completed the New York to London flight in 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds.⁠³

Range, length, seating

British Airways gives a range of 4,143 miles (6,667 km), a length of 203 ft 9 in (62.1 m), a wing span of 83 ft 8 in (25.5 m) and seating for 100 passengers — 40 in the front cabin and 60 in the rear.⁠³

Engines

The four engines were Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593s, each producing 38,000 lb of thrust with reheat, which added fuel at the final stage of the engine for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.⁠³

Stretch in flight

Concorde measured nearly 204 ft in length and stretched between 6 and 10 inches in flight due to heating of the airframe. It was painted in a specially developed white paint to accommodate these changes and to dissipate the heat generated by supersonic flight.⁠³

Last scheduled British Airways flight

On 24 October 2003, British Airways withdrew Concorde. The final scheduled commercial flight was BA002 from JFK, operated by G-BOAG, with Captain Mike Bannister.⁠³