The Concorde supersonic transport was first flown in March 1969, and the type entered service with Air France and British Airways in January 1976. Of the 20 Concordes built, 14 were delivered to the two airlines, and 12 aircraft remain in service.
BA and Air France plan to keep their respective Concorde fleets of seven and five (plus one stored) in service well into the next century, following the completion of a BA-led life-extension programme for the aircraft. This resulted in airframe life being increased to 8,500 reference flights (from the original 6,700), allowing BA's youngest aircraft to remain operational until around 2014 (based on rates of utilisation of around 1,000h a year).
Source: Flight International
