Concorde was the world’s first supersonic passenger jet, capable of speeds of up to 1,350mph.
But the planes - built as part of an Anglo-French government treaty and first flown in 1969 – were long dogged by controversy and never really became profitable.
The main problem arose from the sound of its sonic boom – the loud noise left its wake made when the aircraft broke through the sound barrier.
By the early 1970s, Concorde had been banned from flying at high speed in most countries throughout the world, making only limited transatlantic flights possible for super-rich passengers.
Despite flights from London and Paris to New York and Washington taking less than half the time of other passenger jets, few airlines wanted them.
Only 20 aircraft were ever built - and these were sold at a cost subsidized by the French and UK governments to the formerly state-owned Air France and British Airways.
Development of the planes was prohibitively expensive, so its only crash – on July 25, 2000 – sounded the death knell after questions were raised over its safety.
Though Concorde flew again, the cost of improvement in a post-9/11 world became too much to bear – even as a loss-making badge of prestige – and its retirement flight was made on November 26, 2003, pictured above.
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