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Concorde's Retirement

The Concorde had its last flight with Air France in May 2003 and with British Airways in October 2003 after 27 years’ service. There are number of factors for the reason the Concorde was retired including increasing cost of maintenance and the manufacturers, Airbus could no longer supply parts for the aircraft. Due to high maintenance cost, the price of ticket was proportional higher compared to other tickets for subsonic airliners which limited the number of people being able to afford the tickets. Also, noise was a major issue with restricted the number of locations the Concorde was able to fly over, with New York being the only location the aircraft operated to. With all these factors, Air France and British Airways retired the aircraft which reduced passengers to only subsonic air travel.

For more information on the Concorde, please visit Britannica Heritage Concorde

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G-BOAF on it's last flight to Bristol Filton airfield. Photo public domain.

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G-BOAF flying over Bristol in its last flight before landing at Filton airfield from which it took its first flight back in 1979. Photo public domain.

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G-BOAB in storage at Heathrow Airport after the suspension of all Concorde flights. Photo public domain.