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How fast did Concorde fly London to New York?

About Concorde With a take-off speed of 220 knots (250mph) and a cruising speed of 1350mph – more than twice the speed of sound - a typical London to New York crossing would take a little less than three and a half hours, as opposed to about eight hours for a subsonic flight.



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Such speed didn't come cheap, though: A transatlantic flight required the high-maintenance aircraft to gulp jet fuel at the rate of one ton per seat, and the average round-trip price was $12,000.

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Cruising at Mach 2 – or 1,350 mph – at 60,000 feet, Concorde flew five miles above and 800 mph faster than the subsonic 747s plodding across the Atlantic.

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Concorde used the most powerful pure jet engines flying commercially. The Aircraft's four engines took advantage of what is known as 'reheat' technology, adding fuel to the final stage of the engine, which produced the extra power required for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.

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BA never suffered a serious accident with its seven strong fleet. 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.

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In real life, Diana took several trips aboard the Concorde, both with Prince Charles and solo.

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Technical, financial, and regulatory hurdles make a return to the skies extremely unlikely. Concorde is an aircraft that captures the imagination and is instantly recognizable even to non-aviation fanatics.

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So, to answer the question, yes, some fighter jets are faster than the Concorde. However, it is important to note that the Concorde was primarily designed for passenger travel, not for combat or aerial maneuvers.

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On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after take-off with all 109 occupants and four on the ground killed. This was the only fatal incident involving Concorde; commercial service was suspended until November 2001.

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Concorde is sadly no longer flying, but it is still possible to visit some of the remaining 18 airframes, there are others not open to the public but you can still see them.

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The Concorde carries about 119,500 liters (31,569 gallons) of fuel and burns about 25,629 liters (6,771 gallons) per hour in the air. But fuel isn't just for flying. It's also used to balance the plane.

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Concorde was also popular with the Queen and celebrities. Joan Collins travelled with the aircraft so frequently that she became something of an ambassador for the service. Other notable passengers included Elton John, Mick Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor and Sean Connery.

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Following a farewell tour around North America and the United Kingdom, British Airways and Air France retired all 20 Concordes that were built, of which 16 flew.

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But that hasn't stopped many aviation geeks from calling the new Boom supersonic aircraft Concorde 2.0, although the plane will officially be known under the name 'Overture'. Boom Supersonic's Overture plane is slated to roll out in 2025, fly in 2026 and expected to carry passengers by 2029.

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Boom Supersonic, the US plane manufacturer, plans to have the answer with its new Overture jet, which is set to transport customers at twice the speed of today's fastest commercial aircraft, and is regarded as the new Concorde.

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The Concorde carried out supersonic flights until 2003, when it was retired. Also, because the plane flew faster than the speed of sound, it created a sonic boom, an explosive noise caused by shock waves that were a nuisance to people on the ground.

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Thunderously noisy The Concorde was famously loud: a take-off at Washington airport in 1977 measured 119.4 decibels. By comparison, a clap of thunder hits 120 decibels while the pain threshold for the human ear is around 110.

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Afterburning was added to Concorde for take-off to cope with weight increases that came after the initial design. It was also used to accelerate through the high-drag transonic speed range, not because the extra thrust was required, but because it was available and improved the operating economics.

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