Concorde facts and specifications covering speed, range, size, engines, passenger capacity, service dates and why published figures vary.
Concorde was a British–French supersonic passenger airliner that cruised at Mach 2.02, carried about 100 passengers and flew as high as 60,000 ft. It measured 61.66 m long, used four Olympus 593 turbojets and had a range of roughly 3,900 nautical miles. Twenty aircraft were built.
For our Aviation & Real-World Flying reference pages, we use specifications for the production airliner rather than an early prototype. Capacity, weight and range figures can still differ slightly between sources because configurations and operating assumptions were not identical.
Concorde specifications at a glance
These figures describe the aircraft flown in airline service by British Airways and Air France.
| Specification | Concorde figure |
|---|---|
| Aircraft type | Supersonic passenger airliner |
| Manufacturers | British Aircraft Corporation and Sud Aviation, later Aérospatiale |
| Flight-deck crew | Three: two pilots and one flight engineer |
| Passenger capacity | Usually about 100; published configurations ranged from 92 to 128 |
| Length | 61.66 m (202 ft 4 in) |
| Wingspan | 25.60 m (84 ft) |
| Height | About 12.2 m (40 ft) |
| Wing area | 358.25 m² (3,856 sq ft) |
| Empty weight | Approximately 78,700 kg (173,500 lb) |
| Maximum take-off weight | Approximately 185,070 kg (408,000 lb) |
| Fuel capacity | Approximately 119,500 litres (31,568 US gal) |
| Engines | Four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 Mk 610 turbojets |
| Thrust | About 169.3 kN (38,050 lbf) per engine with reheat |
| Normal cruise speed | Mach 2.02, roughly 1,350 mph or 2,170 km/h at cruise altitude |
| Maximum operating altitude | 60,000 ft (18,300 m) |
| Published range | Approximately 3,900 nautical miles (7,220 km) |
How fast and high did Concorde fly?
Concorde normally crossed the Atlantic at Mach 2.02, close to twice the speed of sound, while cruising between roughly 50,000 and 60,000 ft. It performed a gradual cruise-climb as fuel burned and the aircraft became lighter.
The Olympus engines used reheat—also called afterburning—for take-off and transonic acceleration, but not throughout Mach 2 cruise. Variable engine intakes, the slender delta wing and fuel transferred between tanks all helped keep the aircraft stable and efficient; our account of Concorde's intake, wing and fuel-trim engineering explains those systems in context.
How many passengers and Concordes were there?
Airline cabins normally seated about 100 passengers in a narrow four-abreast layout, although published capacity figures extend from 92 to 128 depending on configuration. Treat 100 as the representative in-service figure, not 128.
Twenty Concorde airframes were built, but only 14 entered airline service: seven with British Airways and seven with Air France. The remainder were prototype, pre-production or development aircraft. First flight took place on 2 March 1969, and commercial service began on 21 January 1976.
Final commercial passenger operations ended in 2003. The aircraft served a small scheduled network alongside numerous charters, covered separately in our summary of the destinations and routes flown by Concorde. Its withdrawal followed a combination of the 2000 accident, operating economics and declining demand rather than a single technical limit; we examine those factors in our analysis of the crash and retirement decision.
Why do Concorde specification figures vary?
Published Concorde specifications vary because sources sometimes mix prototype data, certified limits, operator layouts and performance under different conditions.
- Passenger capacity: around 100 reflects normal airline use; 128 describes a denser theoretical or approved arrangement.
- Speed: Mach 2.02 is the clearest cruise figure. Its conversion into mph or km/h changes with atmospheric temperature and altitude.
- Range: 3,900 nautical miles is a published maximum figure, not a guaranteed distance with every payload, reserve requirement, wind and diversion plan.
- Aircraft count: 20 means every airframe built, while 14 refers to the aircraft that entered airline service.
- Weights: figures may be rounded or taken from different stages of the development and certification programme.
The safest comparison uses production-aircraft figures, states whether capacity is typical or maximum, and keeps nautical miles separate from statute miles. Mixing those definitions is the main reason Concorde fact sheets appear to contradict one another.