The Concorde made its first supersonic passenger flight 40 years ago - this is what it was like

Advertisement

Concorde Air France

AP

On the morning of January 21, 1976, two Concordes - one each from British Airways and Air France - took off simultaneously on what would be the aircraft's first commercial supersonic flights with fare-paying passengers.

Advertisement

The British Airways jet took off from London's Heathrow Airport bound for Bahrain, while the Air France flight left Paris Orly Airport headed for Brazil with a stop in Senegal.

Later that year, Air France and British Airways put the cutting-edge jet into service - making daily flights from Europe to the US. The jet was retired from service nearly 30 years later.

A decade after the retirement of the jet, we remember the awesome experience that was flying on the Concorde.