The initial scheduled supersonic passenger flights, Air France's Concorde F-BVFA and British Airways' Concorde G-BOAA, both took off at 11:40 am on the 21 January 1967. F-BVFA left Paris heading to Rio de Janeiro, with a layover in Dakar, while G-BOAA departed from London Heathrow bound for Bahrain.
By early 1976, the necessary elements were ready for Concorde to begin commercial operations. British Airways and Air France had started taking Concorde bookings in October of the previous year, the aircraft had received certification, and the airlines' operational infrastructure was mostly set up. Despite some strong opposition to Concorde, the majority of people were captivated by it. Concorde ticket prices were determined in agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) at 20% above the first-class rate for a specific route.
A significant obstacle that hindered early service operations was the prohibition of Concorde's use of US airports. The transatlantic route was intended to be Concorde's crowning achievement, as the aircraft was primarily designed for this journey. This route was crucial not only economically, connecting the UK/Europe with the USA, but also because it mostly traversed over water, mitigating concerns about sonic boom noise.
Without permission to operate this route, Concorde was effectively doomed. The opposition from the US to permit Concorde access to their airports might have been partly influenced by the termination of their own SST project. However, the objections were officially based on concerns about noise and air pollution. Significant effort was invested in securing the right to fly there, a struggle that was ultimately successful.
Initially, both British Airways and Air France had to identify alternative routes for Concorde's inaugural flights. Air France chose the Paris to Rio de Janeiro route with a stop in Dakar. Although this route had less traffic than flights to New York, it was busy enough in the early days to warrant its selection.
British Airways launched Concorde flights with the less ideal London to Bahrain route. This segment posed challenges for Concorde due to a subsonic leg over Europe, a curved path over the eastern Mediterranean, and the requirement for extremely accurate navigation through the narrow corridor over the volatile Middle East. Nonetheless, Concorde completed the flight in four hours, compared to 6.5 hours for a subsonic aircraft on the same route.
The list included onboard British Airways Concorde G-BOAA:
HRH The Duke of Kent
Peter Shore, UK Secretary of State for Trade
Sir George Edwards BAC
The list included onboard Air France Concorde F-BVFA:
Monsieur Marcel Cavelle
Pierre Giraudet
Jacques Mitterrand
The Duchess of Argyll
Lord Boyd-Carpenter
Sir Keith Granville
Sir Max Aitken
Rosa Stainton
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire
Group Captain Brian Trubshaw
The list included onboard Air France Concorde F-BVFA:
Monsieur Marcel Cavelle
Pierre Giraudet
Jacques Mitterrand
The Duchess of Argyll
Lord Boyd-Carpenter
Sir Keith Granville
Sir Max Aitken
Rosa Stainton
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire
Group Captain Brian Trubshaw
The Cabin Crew of the British Airways flight to Bahrain were:
Sue Graham
Francine Carville
David Bracley
Ken Taylor
John Hitchcock
Jack Hawkins
John Lyth – Positioned to Bahrain and operated the return flight to London in place of Jack Hawkins.
British Airways Concorde G-BOAA was operated by Captain Norman Todd for the outbound journey and Captain Brian Calvert for the return journey, with flight engineer Lidiard also on board. Due to technical issues with the aircraft's certification, a BAC observer was present in the cockpit for the initial seven flights. For the first flight, this observer was Brian Turbshaw, the chief UK test pilot at BAC.
Air France initiated its inaugural supersonic flights to Rio de Janeiro (GIG), with a stopover in Dakar (DKR), offering two weekly flights under flight number AF025. British Airways commenced their supersonic services with a return flight to Bahrain, designated as flight number BA300. British Airways intended for the Bahrain service to eventually become part of a route extending Concorde flights to Singapore and subsequently to Australia.
On January 21, 1976, at 11:40 am, both Air France Concorde F-BVFA and British Airways Concorde G-BOAA took off simultaneously from Paris-CDG airport and London Heathrow airport, respectively. This coordinated event, broadcast live on television, marked the beginning of the era of commercial supersonic travel.
The Air France plane travelled to the western coast of Africa for a technical stop in Dakar, landing at 14:24. Meanwhile, the British Airways flight BA300 arrived punctually in Bahrain at 15:20.
Air France flight AF025 departed from Dakar at 15:45 for its last segment to Rio De Janeiro, arriving at its destination shortly after 19:00.
The first flights proceeded exactly as planned, with congratulatory messages exchanged between the Queen of England and the French President. The Queen wrote: "On the occasion of today’s inaugural flight by Concorde aircraft of Air France and British Airways, I send you and the French people my warmest congratulations. Today’s flights mark the successful outcome of 14 years of close collaboration between our two nations. It is a source of pride that our countries have today inaugurated a new era in civil aviation."
Air France concluded its Concorde services to South America in 1982, while British Airways terminated its Bahrain services in November 1980.
On 4 February 1976, the persistent and collaborative efforts of the UK and French governments, British Airways, Air France, and Concorde’s manufacturers to secure landing rights in the USA for Concorde were successful. The US Secretary of Transportation, William T. Coleman, approved British Airways and Air France to conduct two daily services to New York and one daily service to Washington for a trial period of sixteen months. However, the issue was not completely resolved. While Washington-Dulles airport, managed by the FAA and connected to the Department of Transportation, was compliant, New York’s JFK airport, owned by the Port Authority, denied landing rights despite the Transportation Secretary’s decision.
Flights to Washington-Dulles airport commenced on May 24, 1976, with departure times coordinated to ensure both aircraft arrived within one minute of each other at Dulles. The aircraft were ceremonially taxied around the airport and then positioned nose to nose for a photo session, where they simultaneously raised their noses and visors in a synchronized salute.
A unique descent procedure was created to adhere to height restrictions, navigate certain danger zones, and reach the Mach 1.0 point. This procedure involved an initial descent to 52,000 feet, followed by a descent to 43,000 feet at a constant Mach 1.3, and a preset altitude of 39,000 feet at Mach 0.95. London to Washington.
The BA service from London to Washington was planned to operate until October 1994. Before 1991, passengers could extend their trip from Washington to Miami on the Concorde, but this option ended that year. Air France stopped their Concorde flights from Paris to Washington in 1982.
A comprehensive book was created detailing all known noise data and assessments, indicating that standard take-off flights from Runway 31 Left or 22 Right would occur at about 14 tonnes below the maximum weight, resulting in a noise pattern akin to the Boeing 707-320 B, which complied with New York’s JFK noise standards.
The decision to ban flights to and from New York's JFK was quickly contested by the airlines, who filed a lawsuit questioning the Authority's right to enforce such a ban. In response, PNYA mandated a six-month study on Concorde noise levels in Washington, London, and Paris. Considering that they had actual results from trials conducted in Casablanca for months, it was evident that a political game was at play.
Further legal complications maintained the status quo until 1977, when Judge Milton Pollack of the Federal District Court ruled that the ban was unlawful and should be lifted, citing the delay by PANY in setting noise standards for Concorde as "… discriminatory, arbitrary and unreasonable." PAYA quickly appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the Federal District Court's ruling and rejected the appeal.
Regular services were preceded by a proving flight carried out by the first production aircraft, 201, on October 19, 1977. This flight was operated by a joint crew from British Aerospace and Aerospatiale, primarily serving as a test, with the aircraft undergoing thorough noise monitoring and measurement. By executing a carefully planned noise abatement procedure during take-off, the Concorde succeeded in lowering its perceived noise to a level that satisfied all but the most ardent of the many protesters present.
Regular service to New York commenced on 22nd November 1977, with both British Airways and Air France maintaining continuous operations until 2003.
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