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A total of 20 Concordes were built over a period of 13 years. Despite encouraging provisional orders from a number of world airlines none of these were subsequently taken up and and only British Airways and Air France ended up purchasing Concorde.
The first two aircraft were prototypes intended to prove the fundamentals of the Concorde design. One was operated by British Aerospace, the other by Aerospatiale France. Both made their maiden flights in the spring of 1969. A further two aircraft were built, G-AXDN and F-WTSA. These pre-production aircraft were used to refine Concorde’s design and bring it closer to the configuration needed for commercial service. Tasks included engine development, wet runway taxi trials, hot and cold altitude trials and the testing of many new systems and components such as thrust reversers, carbon brakes and a redesigned nose section with better pilot visibility. The first two production aircraft, G-BDDG and its French counterpart F-WTSB, never actually entered service. They were used to undertake the final phase of testing and certification before the actual production aircraft were built. Tasks included aircrew training, route proving, endurance testing and technical refinement as well as acting as a test bed for production techniques.
British Airways and Air France registered 7 Concordes each for commercial service; although Air France, with fewer routes, only ever operated 5 aircraft at a time.
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