Spoiler alert – no. Concorde did not return to the skies on April 1st, 2025. Instead, we paid tribute to the legendary supersonic jet by recreating two Concorde flights on Flightradar24. Here’s a look at what happened.
Concorde was a revolutionary supersonic passenger airliner developed jointly by British and French aerospace companies—British Aircraft Corporation and Aérospatiale—in the 1960s. It made its first flight in 1969 and entered commercial service in 1976 with British Airways and Air France. Flying at over twice the speed of sound (Mach 2.04), Concorde could cross the Atlantic in under four hours, making it a symbol of speed, luxury, and technological ambition. However, high operating costs, limited range, noise concerns, and the 2000 crash of Air France Flight 4590 all contributed to its decline. The aircraft was retired in 2003, marking the end of supersonic passenger travel—for now.
Which Concorde flights did we replicate?
We thought it would be fun to use April Fool’s Day as an opportunity to recreate two of Concorde’s most iconic flights, giving these beautiful aeroplanes one last chance to cross the Atlantic (albeit virtually).
The Air France (AF/AFR) Concorde F-BTSD departed Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) at 08:00 local time, and arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) after a 3 hour and 50 minute flight. Later at 11am UK local time, British Airways (BA/BAW)‘s Concorde G-BOAG left London Heathrow Airport (LHR) for JFK, landing 3 hours and 33 minutes later.
We saw up to 106,000 users following Concorde at one point, and the British Airways flight shot to the number one most tracked position faster than any other flight in our history (which you would expect, given Concorde was supersonic).
How did we do it?
Recreating Concorde’s voyages across the Atlantic was made possible by a recent significant updates to Flightradar24.com. The largest change is our introduction of WebGL to render the Flightradar24 website. WebGL is a graphics library that is commonly used across web applications to render animations and in our case, tens of thousands of moving aircraft icons. The vast majority of modern of browsers have built in support for WebGL and the vast majority of users will see a faster, smoother experience. It also sets the stage for allowing us to launch new features and special one off items – such as the Concorde icon we saw crossing the Atlantic on Flightradar24.
Where are these Concordes now?
Both of the Concordes we tracked are safely housed and lovingly maintained by museums.
F-BTSD, which held the fastest record for flights around the world in both directions, operated its last short ferry flight from Paris CDG to Paris Le Bourget Airport (LBG) on June 14, 2003. It now resides in the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace at the airport.
:airplane: Exclusif / Notre #Concorde F-BTSD a repris les airs ce matin dans la plus grande discrétion, après des mois de préparation le bel oiseau blanc renoue avec le ciel à Mach 2 #Avgeek – Suivez le live :arrow_right: https://t.co/8aZPIDy3Wy pic.twitter.com/RoO83C4vka
— Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace (@MuseeAirEspace) April 1, 2025
G-BOAG flew the last ever passenger service from New York JFK to London Heathrow during October 2003. ‘Alpha Golf’s’ final flight was a more storied affair. The aircraft flew from JFK across northern Canada to Seattle, and was given special permission to fly supersonic over land. As a result, the aircraft set a new record for the East to West crossing of North America by air. It now resides in the Museum of Flight, Seattle.
Concorde – captured through the decades
Our photo partner JetPhotos has a library of over 2,300 stunning images of Concordes captured by professional photographers through its years of service and beyond.
Did you manage to track our Concorde flights on April 1st? Let us know in the comments.
![An example full flight summary response from the Flightradar24 API: { "data": [ { "fr24_id": "0987654321", "flight": "SK1415", "callsign": "SAS1415", "operated_as": "SAS", "painted_as": "SAS", "type": "A20N", "reg": "SE-DOY", "orig_icao": "ESSA", "orig_iata": "ARN", "datetime_takeoff": "2023-01-27T05:15:22", "runway_takeoff": "12R", "dest_icao": "EKCH", "dest_iata": "CPH", "dest_icao_actual": "EPWA", "dest_iata_actual": "WAW", "datetime_landed": "2023-01-27T06:15:10", "runway_landed": "27L", "flight_time": 3600, "actual_distance": 1007.74, "circle_distance": 6245, "category": "Passenger", "hex": "4A91F9", "first_seen": "2023-01-27T05:06:22", "last_seen": "2023-01-27T06:18:10", "flight_ended": "true" } ] }](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Flight-summary-API-cover-300x148.jpg)
![An example full flight summary response from the Flightradar24 API: { "data": [ { "fr24_id": "0987654321", "flight": "SK1415", "callsign": "SAS1415", "operated_as": "SAS", "painted_as": "SAS", "type": "A20N", "reg": "SE-DOY", "orig_icao": "ESSA", "orig_iata": "ARN", "datetime_takeoff": "2023-01-27T05:15:22", "runway_takeoff": "12R", "dest_icao": "EKCH", "dest_iata": "CPH", "dest_icao_actual": "EPWA", "dest_iata_actual": "WAW", "datetime_landed": "2023-01-27T06:15:10", "runway_landed": "27L", "flight_time": 3600, "actual_distance": 1007.74, "circle_distance": 6245, "category": "Passenger", "hex": "4A91F9", "first_seen": "2023-01-27T05:06:22", "last_seen": "2023-01-27T06:18:10", "flight_ended": "true" } ] }](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Flight-summary-API-cover-768x378.jpg)
38 Responses
This is the best April fools prank
Indeed it is.
i am one of them 😂
G-BOAG was the first Concorde I saw when it made a special flight into Glasgow Airport in October 1981, resplendent in 1970’s Negus livery. I must get out to Seattle and pay the old gal a visit.
I live within eyesight of Glasgow Airport and i was lucky enough to see(from my window) Concorde flying into Glasgow Airport with our Queen on board(i can’t actually remember the year without Googling),but a great sight to see and hear,my only time (that i can remember) seeing Concorde in flight🤗
Not often the next door neighbour puts me right on aviation matters! 😂
Great spoof.
while other companies are pranking around, flightradar24 actually payed tribute to a legendary aircraft. (my fav) nice.
Best April fools ever, just wish we could have had the return flights
is ther not a concord at Duxford
I live within eyeshot of Glasgow Airport and i was lucky enough to see(from my window) Concorde flying into Glasgow Airport with our Queen on board(i can’t actually remember the year without Googling),but a great sight to see and hear,my only time (that i can remember) seeing Concorde in flight🤗
While I quickly realised this was an April fool, it was extremely well done and realistic (especially the aircraft icopn). I did wonder if the route flown by the LHR-JFK flight was reminiscent of that actually taken during operational service.
Whew! I did wonder!
It’s probably like an April Fool!
“POISSON D’ AVRIL !”
I just caught the last few minutes of AG’s flight before landing at JFK, and then I checked the calendar. Well done, FR24!
By far my favorite April fools prank ever. At first when I saw it on the map I thought it was real, then I realized it was April 1. Great prank!
Loved it! Thanks for mentioning the corresponding museums! Did their East/West record match the time held by the SR-71 going in the opposite direction?
Had me thinking for a couple minutes…
How did they get a photo of it flying 😭😭
Borrowed one from a museum, flew it and took it back of course!
Yes,was happy thinking it’s back. 😂
oui, je l’ai vu dès 08.10 hr au-dessus de la manche et l’ai suivi jusqu’à JFK.
Mais pensé de suite au poisson d’avril.
I was SO EXCITED that didn’t even consider the date!!!
Feel a bit of a wally but what a great idea.
Well done!
Brilliant! I did have a double take when I opened Fr24 from the special flights alert I received, gave me a good laugh.
Please do it again next year, I missed it and I adore Concorde
I used to see the Concorde pass over my apartment in Putney by the River Thames in London at 18:05 on finals for landing at Heathrow Airport. I’d be sitting on the balcony raising a G&T to the smart white bird…..
I was apprenticed at BAC in the 60s at Weybridge and worked on Concord(e) components then transferred to Filton and worked on 002 and watched its maiden flight with Pilot Brian Trubshaw at the controls. Along with the Vulcan l rate them as the most beautiful aircraft ever to fly.
i was so exited becuase i thoght it was coming back and now i am mad
I remember my flight on G-BOAA from LHR to IAD (Washington-Dulles) on May 2 1977. The cockpit door was open during takeoff (and stayed open for most of the rest of the flight – those were the days). I sat in 2B, the aisle seat in the second row on the left side, and on the climb out saw this black shape looming up in the windshield…and figured, that was it – we’re colliding with something or other. Well, of course, it was the visor being raised. Our course took us over the Bristol Channel, not the English south coast. Another unforgettable memory (of many) was seeing, from FL550 or so, the coast of N America from Nova Scotia to Virginia laid out in a single image.
I was taken in and I did look forward to landing in New York in the 3D mode lol.
I am 75 but when I was working I was fortunate to attend a gala dinner that was set out under the Concorde wings in Manchester. We could go onboard and listen to a chap explaining about the Concorde’s history. We were all sat down and two things struck me was how narrow the plane was and the second thing was being able to sit in seat 1 which I understand was always reserved for the Queen if she flew. As a retired engineer the Concorde in my estimation was the most iconic plane developed.
Brilliant, fell for it “Hook, line & sinker” 😫🇬🇧🤣😂
It was only later in the day that “the penny dropped”😉
Yes I did track the BA flight and for a nano second I believed it because I was currently listening to the audiobook ‘Concord’ by Mike Bannister. Then the date kicked into my head. When my sister lived in Brooklyn NY by the water we would watch Concord come in on final approach to JFK. Such a beautiful plane.
Loved it. Made me do a little quick research when I first got the alert. Great job !
yo me crei esto ya me avia emocionado mucho pero despues investigue y termino siendo false fue una Buena broma por El dia de los inocentes
I never been on a Concorde. I love to. But if only if the fare was much Cheaper.
Always wanted to see concorde on FR24. Would of made tracking far easier back in the day. Thank you. At first I thought someone did a photoshop version till I realised it was on the app
I got so excited thinking the Concorde has made a come back until I saw this was posted on the 1st April.
How about a last flight tribute for each of the concords to commerate the passing over to museum status …… be nice to see the fleet fly (even virtually) ….. .grate job on the prank April fools
I’d have loved to have tracked Concorde for real on FR24 just to see it’s real time speed compared with other airliners.