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Concorde started life on huge assembly lines at Filton, near Bristol, and Toulouse in France. Only 20 aircraft were ever built.

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The first British Concorde - numbered 002 - took to the air on 9 April 1969, a month after its French counterpart.

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Concorde's narrow cabin was to prove its downfall. With space for just 100 passengers, the economics did not make sense for airlines in the 1970s and beyond.

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Although no airlines outside the UK and France ever bought Concorde - despite initial interest from many - for a short time in the late 1970s Singapore Airlines operated a joint service with BA.

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Concorde's speed and expense quickly linked it in the public imagination to national leaders, top executives, rock and film stars - and royalty. Pictured is the Queen on board in 1977.

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Even Cuba's communist leader Castro was not immune to Concorde's allure - here admiring the view from the cockpit in 1997.

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The beginning of the end for Concorde came at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on 25 July 2000. The crash killed 113 people.

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Retirement means most Concordes will end up in museums. This Air France Concorde took a novel route to get to its new home in southern Germany.

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Admired by many, flown on by some, loathed by a few - Concorde's place in aviation history is assured.