The Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST) was the more successful of the only two supersonic passenger airliners to have ever operated commercially (the Tupolev Tu-144 being the other). First flown in 1969, its service commenced in 1976 and continued for 27 years. It flew regular transatlantic flights from London Heathrow (British Airways) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (Air France) to New York JFK and Washington Dulles, flying these routes at record speeds, in under half the time of other airliners. It also set many other records, including the official FAI “Westbound Around The World” and “Eastbound Around the World” world air speed records.

British Airways (BA) is the largest airline of the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. It was one of only two operators of the Concorde supersonic airliner (the other being the state-owned Air France), with a daily service between Heathrow and New York JFK. BA used the aircraft to win business customers, guaranteeing a certain number of Concorde upgrades in return for corporate accounts with the airline, a key factor in winning business from transatlantic competitors. Concorde made large operating profits for British Airways for much of its service life.

British Airways, simultaneously with Air France, inaugurated the world's first supersonic passenger service with Concorde in January 1976. While commercial jets take seven hours to fly from New York to Paris, the average supersonic flight time on the transatlantic routes was just under 3.5 hours. In transatlantic flight, Concorde travelled more than twice as fast as other aircraft, making them appear to be flying backwards. Up to 2003, Air France and British Airways continued to operate the New York services daily.