Concorde granted permission by the Canadian authorities for the majority of the journey to be flown supersonically over sparsely-populated Canadian territory. Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a British-French turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was operated from 1976 until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 ( at cruise altitude), with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially; the other is the Soviet-built Tupolev
Concorde and French governments that led to Concorde's construction, the name "Concorde" is from the French word "concorde" (), which has an English equivalent, "concord". Both words mean "agreement", "harmony" or "union". The name was officially changed to "Concord" by Harold Macmillan in response to a perceived slight by Charles de Gaulle. At the French roll-out in Toulouse in late 1967, the British Government Minister for Technology, Tony Benn, announced that he would change the spelling back to "Concorde". This created a nationalist uproar that died down when Benn stated that the suffixed "e" represented "Excellence, England, Europe and Entente (Cordiale)".