Concorde Facts


There are no shortage of amazing statistics and fascinating facts about Concorde – and it’s no wonder that, years after its retirement, it still has a special glamour and fascination. Here are some of our favourites:

Concorde

  • Concorde was the world's first supersonic airliner
  • A specification for the Anglo-French Mach 2.2 airliner was published in October 1962
  • Concorde 001 made its maiden flight on 2 March 1969 in France. Concorde 002 took to the air for the first time on 9 April 1969 in Bristol.

Discover more about Concorde 

Concorde G-BOAC

  • Government approval for the production of G-BOAC was given in December 1969
  • Concorde G-BOAC (affectionately known as ‘Alpha Charlie’) became the second aircraft to join the Concorde fleet when she was delivered to British Airways on 13 February 1976
  • Although G-BOAC was the second Concorde to be delivered, she is considered to be the flagship of the fleet as she carries the registration plate BOAC - which were the initials of British Airways' forerunner, British Overseas Airways Corporation, which merged with BEA (British European Airways) to form British Airways.

Read more about Alpha Charlie >

The North West Concorde Connection

  • All seven aircraft in the British Airways Concorde fleet visited Manchester during their 27 years in commercial service
  • Concorde made 413 flights to and from Manchester Airport
  • The materials used to manufacture the aircraft’s ground-breaking ‘droop snoop’ were produced in Oldham
  • The rear fuselage of the aircraft was manufactured by the British Aircraft Corporation in Preston, Lancashire
  • Builder Derek Gaskell from Bolton, Lancashire, hired Concorde for £50,000 in April 1986 in a supersonic effort to raise funds for the neuro-surgical unit at Hope Hospital, Salford. The unit had nursed his wife, Dorothy, back to health after she suffered a brain haemorrhage. The ‘Gaskell special’ made three flights in and out of Manchester – one at supersonic speed over the Bay of Biscay – and raised over £27,000. The sum was raised by fare-paying passengers and over 3,000 spectators who paid £5 to walk around the British Airways aircraft
  • Two years later the Bolton builder hired an Air France Concorde to make fund raising flights between Manchester and Paris and raised a further £20,000 for the hospital
  • Concorde added a touch of excitement to the official openings of Terminals 2 and 3 at Manchester Airport on 5 March 1993 and 20 April 1998 respectively.