Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was first
flown in 1969, entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for 27
years.
Concorde flew regular transatlantic
flights from London
Heathrow and Paris-Charles
de Gaulle Airport to New York JFK
and Washington
Dulles; it profitably flew these routes in less than half the time
of other airliners. With only 20 aircraft built, the development of Concorde
was a substantial economic loss; Air France and British Airways also
received considerable government subsidies to purchase them. Concorde was
retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the aviation industry after the September 11
terrorist attacks in 2001 and a decision by Airbus, the successor
firm of Aerospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support.
In a week of farewell flights
around the United
Kingdom, Concorde visited Birmingham on 20 October, Belfast on 21 October, Manchester on 22 October, Cardiff on 23 October and Edinburgh on 24 October. On
23 October 2003, the Queen
consented to the illumination of Windsor Castle, an honour
reserved for state events and visiting dignitaries, as Concorde's last
west-bound commercial flight departed London.
British Airways retired
its Concorde fleet on 24 October. G-BOAG left New York, G-BOAF flew over the
Bay of Biscay, carrying VIP guests including former Concorde pilots, while
G-BOAE flew from Edinburgh. The three aircraft then circled over London, having
received special permission to fly at low altitude, before landing in sequence
at Heathrow.
Research courtesy of Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde#Retirement
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