Each passenger onboard Concorde received a souvenir that's now a piece of history

Every passenger onboard the Concorde airliner took home a souvenir that is now a part of supersonic history.

Concorde first took flight in 1969 and flew in commercial service from 1976 to 2003, ferrying people across the Atlantic at Mach 2. That’s twice the speed of sound, fact fans.

As the only truly successful supersonic airliner, Concorde carried over 2.5 million passengers, and each one got to take home something very special after their flight.

No supersonic airliner has taken to the skies since Concorde’s last flight in 2003, with the aircraft leaving behind one of the biggest legacies in aviation history.

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What Concorde souvenir did passengers take home?

Every passenger who flew on the aircraft was able to take something truly special home.

At the end of the flight, they were issued a certificate telling them they had broken the sound barrier.

This was a memento that every passenger has likely cherished over the years.

Inside the cabin of the jet was a Mach meter and an altimeter, telling passengers how fast and high the aircraft was flying.

There would be huge cheers inside the cabin as Concorde passed through first Mach 1, and then Mach 2.

Mach 1 is the speed of sound, with Mach 2 twice the speed of sound, around 1,354mph.

The fact that this was possible on a commercial aircraft is still awe-inspiring in 2025.

Supersonic travel has not been possible since 2003

Although the era of Concorde is long over, and we’ve not seen a commercial Mach 2 aircraft since, Boom Supersonic is attempting to introduce its own supersonic airliner, the Overture, and is making good progress.

Back in the day, however, in terms of rivals, the aircraft had just one from the Soviet Union.

This was the Tupolev Tu-144, but the Russian jet couldn’t sustain flight at Mach 2 and was beset with all kinds of problems.

While Concorde flew in commercial service for nearly 30 years, the Tu-144 managed just three flights from 1975 to 1978.

America also attempted to build its own supersonic rival to the Anglo-French jet.

The Boeing 2707 got the closest to doing so, while Lockheed came up with the L-2000.

Neither, though, took flight, and Concorde will likely forever stand tall as one of aviation’s greatest triumphs.

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