1976, News: The First Commercial Flight of the Concorde

On January 21, 1976, British Airways Concorde G-BOAA (Aircraft Number 206) flew from London to Bahrain. The same day Air France Concorde F-BVFA (Aircraft Number 205) flew from Paris to Rio de Janeiro.

The Concorde is the second of only two supersonic passenger airliners to have entered commercial service; the first was the Tupolev Tu-144. Concorde was the result of a cooperation between Aérospatiale (France) and BAC (British Aircraft Corporation). First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for 27 years. The Concorde flew routes in less than half the time of other airliners. With only 20 aircraft built (including 6 non-airline aircraft), the development of Concorde was a substantial economic loss.

British Airways Concorde G-BOAA (206) leaving Heathrow (London) on January 21, 1976

Air France Concorde F-BVFA (205)

Facts

• Capacity: 100 passengers
• Range: 6,880 km
• Speed: Mach Two (2,388 km/h)
• Engines: 4 Olympus 593 MK 610 turbojets, manufactured by Rolls-Royce/SNECMA
• First flight: Concorde 001 (reg.: F-WTSS), March 2, 1969, Toulouse, France
• First Supersonic Flight (Mach One): Concorde 001 (reg.: F-WTSS), October 1, 1969, Toulouse, France
• First Commercial Flight Air France: Concorde 205 (reg.: F-BVFA), January 21, 1976, Paris to Rio de Janeiro
• First Commercial Flight British Airways: Concorde 206 (reg.: G-BOAA), January 21, 1976, London to Bahrain
• Last Commercial Flight Air France: Concorde 213 (reg.: F-BTSD), May 31, 2003, Paris to New York
• Last Commercial Flights British Airways October 24, 2004:
• Concorde 212 (reg.: G-BOAE) Heathrow to Edinburgh
• Concorde 216 (reg.: G-BOAF) round the bay trip in and out of Heathrow
• Concorde 214 (reg.: G-BOAG)

"Concorde in gebruik" (1976, Dutch)

"Concorde arrivée a Rio" (1976, French)

"Concorde - Plus vite que le soleil" (1976, French)

"27 Years of Supersonic Flight" (British Airways, English)