On this day, October 24, 2003, Concorde made its last commercial flight.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_24

• 2003 – Concorde makes its last commercial flight.

Concorde

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Operational history

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Retirement

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British Airways


BA Concorde G-BOAB at London Heathrow Airport.
This aircraft flew for 22,296 hours between its first
flight in 1976 and its final flight in 2000, and has
remained there ever since.

British Airways conducted a North American farewell tour in October 2003. G-BOAG visited Toronto Pearson International Airport on 1 October, after which it flew to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. G-BOAD visited Boston's Logan International Airport on 8 October, and G-BOAG visited Dulles International Airport on 14 October.

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. Each day the aircraft made a return flight out and back into Heathrow to the cities, often overflying them at low altitude. On 22 October, both Concorde flight BA9021C, a special from Manchester, and BA002 from New York landed simultaneously on both of Heathrow's runways. 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 2003. G-BOAG left New York to a fanfare similar to that given for Air France's F-BTSD, while two more made round trips, G-BOAF over the Bay of Biscay, carrying VIP guests including former Concorde pilots, and G-BOAE to Edinburgh. The three aircraft then circled over London, having received special permission to fly at low altitude, before landing in sequence at Heathrow. The captain of the New York to London flight was Mike Bannister. The final flight of a Concorde in the US occurred on 5 November 2003 when G-BOAG flew from New York's JFK Airport to Seattle's Boeing Field to join the Museum of Flight's permanent collection. The plane was piloted by Mike Bannister and Les Broadie, who claimed a flight time of three hours, 55 minutes and 12 seconds, a record between the two cities that was made possible by Canada granting use of a supersonic corridor between Chibougamau, Quebec, and Peace River, Alberta. The museum had been pursuing a Concorde for their collection since 1984. The final flight of a Concorde worldwide took place on 26 November 2003 with a landing at Filton, Bristol, UK.

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Tue Oct 24, 2023: On this day, October 24, 2003, Concorde made its last commercial flight.

[NNadir]

1. I flew on that thing three times with free AF upgrades.

Air France offered Americans, not the French, a free upgrade one way for a business class purchase for round trips to Paris.

It was a small interior, with a digital device posted for speed in Mach units. What was upsetting was that you left JFK at around 1 pm, and three hours later arrived in France around the time the city was shutting down from the time difference, wide awake, unable to sleep, something tough for me as I already am an insomniac.

I flew to Europe twice, and back to the US once on the plane. Coming back one had the sensation of arriving before you left. I had a breakfast meeting in Paris and a US meeting in the afternoon.

The cool thing was the altitude at which it flew. One could see the curvature of the Earth quite clearly and had the impression of almost being in outer space.

It wasn't worth the money if you paid full price though.

I was less aware of the environmental implications than I am today, but I was not, in any case, in a position, in the politics of my company at the time, to decline it.