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Concorde's debut and commencement of supersonic flights


Concorde's debut and commencement of supersonic flights

Years in service: 1976-2003
Number of aircraft operated: 7 (1 written off after crash at CDG on 2000-07-25)

On 21 January 1976, CAF launched its first-ever supersonic Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde service on the Paris (Charles de Gaulle) to Rio de Janeiro route with a refuelling stopover in Dakar, Senegal. A second Concorde service from Paris (CDG) to Caracas via Santa Maria Island began in April that year, followed by a third service to Washington, D.C. on 24 May and a fourth one to New York (JFK) on 22 November 1977. A fifth twice-weekly service to Mexico City via Washington or New York would commence in 1978.

Although Concorde's debut in the United States was welcomed with much fanfare, approval for supersonic transatlantic flights to the country was initially withheld due to noise protests. With a maximum cruising speed of 2,179 km (1,354 miles) per hour​, or Mach 2.04 (more than twice the speed of sound), Concorde was capable of flying the Paris-New York route in just 3 hours and 23 minutes.

Despite the widespread publicity, the astronomical operating costs and low demand meant that most of CAF's Concorde services were unsustainable, and in 1982 the airline withdrew from all routes except for a single daily flight to New York. From its debut in the late 1970s until retirement during the early 2000s, CAF was one of only two airlines—along with British Airways—to operate regularly scheduled flights with this aircraft.

See also: http://www.airline-e...ncorde-service/

Notes about F-BVFA:
Temporarily re-registered as N94FA when operating for Braniff International Airways from 1979-01-12 to 1980-06-01.
Withdrawn from service on 2003-05-30.
Preserved at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on 2003-06-12.



    this is really cool

    I do love a good Concorde!