Concorde service was profitable by the late 1980s and if not for the economic downturn and Air France Concorde crash of 2000, may have survived to this day. Concorde earned £500 million for British Airways after tax profit, this was between a loss making 1982 and a highly profitable 2000 with just seven aircraft.

Despite its reputation as a "white elephant," the Concorde was highly profitable for British Airways, though it struggled to make money for Air France. After the initial development costs were written off by the British and French governments, British Airways turned the aircraft into a major revenue generator by targeting wealthy corporate executives and celebrities. Between 1983 and its retirement in 2003, British Airways’ Concorde fleet reportedly earned an operating profit of over £500 million. They achieved this by realizing that many of their regular passengers didn't actually know how much their tickets cost, allowing the airline to significantly hike fares for the "supersonic" prestige. In contrast, Air France struggled with lower load factors and higher maintenance costs, often barely breaking even. While the program as a whole (including research and development) was a massive taxpayer-funded loss, the day-to-day operations for the UK’s flag carrier proved that there was a lucrative market for ultra-fast transcontinental travel among the global elite.