On 1st March, France released a €4.20 stamp to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Concorde’s first flight. France and Great Britain had developed this passenger aircraft which could fly at supersonic speeds. Pilot Andre Turcat flew the first Concorde on 2nd March 1969 from Toulouse, France for 30 minutes. Great Britain and France had issued stamps to celebrate this event. Regular passenger flights began in 1976.

Designed by Jame’s Prunier, new French stamp features the prototype flying and was printed in sheets of 40 and panes of 10 with images of the Concorde in the selvage. Several more commemorative stamps were issued to celebrate the Concorde’s success. A €0.46 stamp depicting the aircraft was featured in a pane celebrating transportation milestones of the 20th century.

The last passenger flight of the Concorde took-off on 24th October 2003. It flew 11 miles above the Earth’s surface at up to 1,350 mph. It crossed the Atlantic in about 3 1/2 hours, cutting down the travel time by 5 hours. Even though there was a lot of expectations in terms of demand, only 16 such planes were built, all of which were used by British Airways and Air France.

Image Courtesy: La Poste