France has declared the first ever Concorde supersonic aircraft a historical monument, Culture Minister Rachida Dati said in an announcement on 5 May 2025. The French-British venture Concorde No.1, together with all its equipment, are now classified in the national register.
The plane is located in the Aeroscopia Museum in Blagnac, Toulouse, an aerospace hub in France’s southwest, where it can be visited by members of the public. It retains “all of its equipment and testing devices, its cockpit, and its engineer’s station,” the French Culture Ministry pointed out, and “embodies France’s innovation and industrial strength in the aviation sector,” Dati said in a statement on X.
✈️ J’annonce le classement au titre des monuments historiques de l’avion Concorde n° 1 et de l'ensemble de ses équipements. Cet avion a incarné la force industrielle et la capacité d’innovation de la France sur le plan aéronautique. Il a été aussi un symbole de notre capacité de… pic.twitter.com/KcXZ5Ubaxv
— Rachida Dati ن (@datirachida) May 5, 2025
Transatlantic glamour
Inaugurated in 1976 after 22 years’ cross-Channel development work, the iconic aircraft design remains the world’s only supersonic passenger jet to this day. The tailless, delta-winged, slender droop nose design is instantly recognisable and for many is associated with the glamour of travel at the speed of sound between London, Paris, and New York, making the journey achievable in just over three hours. It was operated by Air France and British Airways.
Registered F-WTSB, and also known as ‘Sierra Bravo,’ the now-designated monument Concorde 001 was the first of 20 of the planes manufactured by the predecessors to Airbus and BAE, helping through testing and development to pave the way for the others. One was destroyed in the fatal crash that killed 113 passengers and crew in July 2000 – a precursor to the service’s demise in October 2003 due to cost issues and a decline in the public appetite for air travel following the Twin Towers attack of 9/11. France still possesses six of the 18 others that are still in existence today.
The French-British supersonic Concorde aircraft has been listed as a historical monument in France. And rightfully so.#concorde #france pic.twitter.com/xmY0UaA3j5
— Xaldwin Sealand (@XaldwinSealand) May 5, 2025
Futuristic
Hailing the aircraft as “a pioneer in supersonic flight” that “remains in our memories”, Dati said the historical monument designation would “provide future generations an example of our aeronautical expertise and futuristic vision.”
Supersonic passenger jets have remained an engineering dream that the US aerospace start-up Boom Aviation is determined to rekindle with its Overture and XB1 craft, that broke the sound barrier in a successful test over California’s Mojave Desert in January 2025. The firm has already built a 66-planes-per-year superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina, for Overture manufacture. The Overture aims to carry between 64 and 80 passengers at Mach 1.7 – meaning it too could do New York to London in three and a half hours.
