Air France observes 20th anniversary of first Concorde flight.PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 1996--Twenty years ago on Jan. 21, 1976 the first Air France Air France in full Compagnie Internationale Air France French passenger and cargo airline with more than 200 destinations in some 80 countries. It introduced supersonic Concorde service in 1976, but financial loss led the company to cease its Concorde Concorde flight, AF 085, left Paris for Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, city, Brazil Rio de Janeiro (rē`ō də zhänā`rō, Port. rē`  thĭ zhənĕē`r with a stopover in Dakar. The pilots, Captains Pierre Chanoine and Pierre Dudal, and Flight Engineer Andre Blanc paved the way for supersonic air travel. In the last 20 years, Air France Concordes have flown 68 million miles, clocked up 75,000 flight hours including 53,000 at supersonic speed supersonic speed: see aerodynamics. , and carried more than 1.1 million passengers to Rio de Janeiro, Caracas, Washington, Mexico City Mexico City Spanish Ciudad de México City (pop., 2000: city, 8,605,239; 2003 metro. area est., 18,660,000), capital of Mexico. Located at an elevation of 7,350 ft (2,240 m), it is officially coterminous with the Federal District, which occupies 571 sq mi and, above all, to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of since Nov. 22, 1977. Air France Concordes have also completed 23 round-the-world trips, some of which have beaten world speed records. During the last one on Aug. 15 and 16, 1995, the supersonic aircraft flew eastbound over 40,000 km in 31 hours and 27 minutes. Today the French Concorde flies daily between Paris and New York and is regularly chartered for tourists and promotional operations. Close to 1,650 such flights have taken place since Concorde first went into service. CONTACT: Air France Bruce Haxthausen, 212/830-4482 |
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