This is a film about the rise and fall of the world's first supersonic passenger jet - Concorde. From the moment that it hit the skies in 1969, Concorde was instantly iconic. Considered the thoroughbred of aircraft, it flew the rich and famous across the Atlantic in just 3 hours and forty-five minutes - with an impeccable safety record. Until, on July 25th 2000, a freak chain of events just outside Paris caused a catastrophic accident: Concorde's first fatality in 27 years of service killed 115 people and those devastating 120 seconds of flight marked the end of the supersonic era. The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde (/ˈkɒnkɔːrd/) is a British-French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was operated from 1976 until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h at cruise altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially; the other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which operated in passenger service from 1977[6] to 1978.[7]
Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Twenty aircraft were built, including six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA) were the only airlines to purchase and fly Concorde. The aircraft was used mainly by wealthy passengers who could afford to pay a high price in exchange for Concorde's speed and luxury service. For example, in 1997, the round-trip ticket price from New York to London was $7,995, more than 30 times the cost of the cheapest option to fly this route.[8]
The original program cost estimate of £70 million[9] met huge overruns and delays, with the program eventually costing £1.3 billion.[10] It was this extreme cost that became the main factor in the production run being much smaller than anticipated.[11] Another major factor which affected the viability of all supersonic transport programmes was in how supersonic route options were eventually limited to ocean-crossing only to prevent sonic boom disturbance on populated areas. With only seven airframes each being operated by the British and French, the per-unit cost was impossible to recoup, so the French and British governments absorbed the development costs. British Airways and Air France were able to operate Concorde at a profit, in spite of very high maintenance costs, because Concorde was able to sustain a high ticket price.
Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London's Heathrow Airport and Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, and Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados.
