Was Concorde loud in cabin?

Originally Answered: How noisy was it inside Concorde's cabin? A LLLLLOT! from the galley and up to the back, it was very noisy. and cramped too.



Yes, the Concorde was significantly louder inside the cabin than modern subsonic jets like the A350 or 787. While the aircraft moved at Mach 2.04, passengers experienced a sustained "white noise" roar from the four Olympus 593 turbojet engines located directly under the floor. Measurements from the late 20th century suggest cabin noise levels hovered around 80 to 85 decibels—similar to a loud vacuum cleaner or a busy shouting match—compared to the 70–75 decibels found in a modern Dreamliner. Additionally, the cabin was notoriously cramped, with narrow seats and small windows that would occasionally vibrate or feel warm to the touch due to the friction of supersonic flight. Despite the prestige, the acoustic experience was far from "serene"; it was a visceral, mechanical environment where the sheer power of the engines was constantly felt and heard, a stark contrast to the "library-quiet" cabins that 2026 travelers have come to expect from long-haul aviation.

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flying on the Concorde was not a comfortable experience. this ultra fast supersonic jet. was once revered as the future of business travel, but its interior felt more like flying in a shoebox.

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The high temperatures also caused Concorde's titanium and steel skin to expand—the plane stretched as much as ten inches in length during flight. A specially developed white paint accommodated this stretching and dissipated the heat generated by supersonic speeds.

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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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Flying at Mach 2 – about 1,350mph – the Concorde could fly 100 passengers and a crew of nine from NYC to London in an average of three hours and 30 minutes.

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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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The challenges of manufacturing and certifying new parts, maintaining a licensed flight crew capable of flying it, and ongoing maintenance and preservation mean we are no closer to seeing Concorde flying again since its last flight in 2003.

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As the plane took off, landed, and taxied, the pilots tilted its nose forward so that they could see the runway. For supersonic flight, the nose was hydraulically lifted, streamlining the plane's shape and allowing it to efficiently pierce the air.

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The aircraft quickly proved itself unquestionably as it reached speeds of up to 1,354 mph. To put that into context, that is around 800 mph faster than a Boeing 747 and over 350 mph faster than the earth spins on its axis!

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Below Mach 1.3, this would dissipate in the atmosphere, but Concorde could 'supercruise' at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, causing a noise like a thunderclap to be heard on the ground.

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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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Former British Airways (BA) Concorde captain John Hutchinson said the fire on its own should have been 'eminently survivable; the pilot should have been able to fly his way out of trouble'. Hutchinson believed this did not happen due to a series of operational errors and 'negligence' by the maintenance department.

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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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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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