A beautifully-made cinematic French-language anniversary film celebrates the Air France Concorde and the era of supersonic commercial flight.
Fifty years ago, commercial aviation crossed a line that has yet to be crossed again. Here at Avgeekery, we marked the occasion with a tribute to one of the most elegant and ambitious human feats ever achieved.
On 21 January 1976, Concorde entered scheduled passenger service with Air France and British Airways, ushering in an all-too-brief, but unforgettable, era of supersonic travel. Half a century later, that moment still resonates, not just for what Concorde was, but for what it represented: confidence, ambition, and a belief that speed itself could be elegant.
To mark the milestone, Air France has released a beautifully produced anniversary video celebrating Concorde’s legacy. The film is entirely in French (don’t worry, it has English subtitles), but language quickly becomes secondary. This is not a technical briefing or a corporate retrospective. It is a visual and emotional tribute, and one that aviation enthusiasts will appreciate regardless of fluency.
Put simply, the video is an invitation to remember a time when airlines did not just move passengers from point A to point B, but dared to redefine what was possible.
Oh, how we long for those days again.
Concorde, Through Air France’s Eyes
The Air France Concorde story is inseparable from the aircraft’s legacy, yet it carries a distinct national and cultural pride. Concorde was not merely flown by Air France. It was embraced as a symbol of French engineering excellence and European cooperation.
Developed jointly by France and the United Kingdom, Concorde was a technological moonshot of its era. It cruised at Mach 2, more than twice the speed of sound, at altitudes above 60,000 feet. At that height, the sky darkened, the curvature of the Earth became visible, and the Atlantic crossing shrank to just over three hours.
Air France operated Concorde on premium routes, most famously between Paris and New York, where time itself became a selling point. Breakfast in Paris. Lunch in Manhattan. For a brief window in aviation history, that wasn’t marketing hype. It was reality.
The anniversary video leans into this romance. Through archival footage, elegant pacing, and modern production techniques, Air France presents Concorde not as a retired airliner, but as a living idea.
Engineering That Still Feels Futuristic
What makes the film especially compelling is how it subtly highlights Concorde’s engineering brilliance without turning clinical.
Concorde’s slender delta wing, its drooping nose for improved visibility during takeoff and landing, and its Olympus engines optimized for sustained supersonic cruise were all solutions to problems that commercial aviation has largely avoided since. Heat expansion alone caused the airframe to grow several inches in flight. Cabin windows were small to manage pressurization. Fuel was actively pumped around the aircraft to maintain balance at different speeds.
These features were all part of the inner workings that made Concorde fly.
The video doesn’t spell out all this in technical detail, but it doesn’t need to. The visuals do the work. Close-ups of the aircraft. Shots of Concorde slicing through the sky. Quiet moments on the flight deck. Together, they remind the viewer that Concorde was not just fast. It was purpose-built for a regime of flight no other passenger jet has dared to revisit.
A Celebration, Not a Postmortem
Importantly, this Air France Concorde video is not about why Concorde ended. It does not dwell on economics, noise regulations, or the factors that led to its retirement in 2003. Instead, it focuses on why Concorde mattered.
That choice feels intentional, and appropriate.
They were like children with eyes full of wonder. They wanted to enjoy each moment. And often, upon their return, customers would tell us, “It was too short!”
Laëtitia Auchoix | Concorde Lounge Agent (1996-1998), Paris CDG
Fifty years after Concorde entered service, its absence still leaves a noticeable gap. No commercial aircraft today offers a supersonic experience. Speed has been traded for efficiency, range, and scale. And while the industry has moved on, it has not replaced what Concorde represented, even as companies like Boom Supersonic quietly work toward a return to supersonic flight with aircraft such as Overture.
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This is why the video works so well. It is not trying to argue for Concorde’s return. It is simply asking the viewer to pause and appreciate what once existed.
Why You Should Watch It
Even if you don’t speak French, the Air France Concorde anniversary film is worth your time. It is truly a love letter to Concorde, clearly made by people who understand that Concorde was more than metal and fuel burn charts.
For avgeeks, especially those in the US who associate Concorde primarily with New York arrivals and sonic booms over the Atlantic, the video offers a slightly different perspective. It shows Concorde as Air France saw it: a national achievement, a technical marvel, and a defining chapter in the airline’s identity.
Fifty years on, Concorde still captures imaginations. This video reminds us why.
If you care about aviation history, engineering ambition, or the lost art of going faster simply because we could, this is an anniversary worth celebrating — and, in this author’s opinion, a film worth watching.
So, without further ado, here is the film. Enjoy!
