Concorde’s aerodynamic, narrow body restricted space for the passengers, up to 128 economy class passengers could be carried with 86 cm (34 in) seat pitch. A version with 144 passenger seats at 81 cm (31 in) pitch was available. But both British Airways and Air France configured their passenger cabin as a single class with 100 seats — four seats across with a central aisle. Headroom in the central aisle was barely six ft (1.8 m) and the leather seats were unusually narrow. The seat pitch was giving only about 6 or 7 inches more legroom than in a typical scheduled international Economy class. With little overhead storage, carry-on luggage was severely restricted. Due to the amount of fuel that Concorde used, this made it a costly operation. Passengers paid a high price for the chance to fly Concorde Class and to go supersonic. In the 1990s, features which were common in the first class and business class cabins of a long-haul Boeing 747 flight, such as video entertainment, rotating or reclining seats and walking areas were absent from Concorde. However, the flight time from London to New York of approximately 3.5 hrs compensated for the lack of those features. There was usually a plasma display at the front of the cabin showing the altitude, the air temperature and the current speed in both miles per hour and Mach number. (Air France had a single display showing the Mach number-only.)
To make up for these missing “comfort” features, a high level of passenger service was maintained. Passengers were given free champagne and meals were served using compact Wedgwood crockery with short silver cutlery.
The experience of passing through the sound sound barrierwas accompanied by a slight surge in acceleration, and was announced by one of the pilots.
During the supersonic cruise, although the outside air temperature was typically -60 °C (-75 °F), air compression would heat the external skin at the front of the aircraft to approximately +120 °C (250 °F), making the windows warm to the touch and producing a noticeable temperature gradient along the length of the cabin.
The view from Concorde on the edge of space
Concorde flew fast enough that the weight of everyone onboard was temporarily reduced by about 1% when flying east. This was due to centrifugal effects since the airspeed added to the rotation speed of the Earth. Flying west, the weight increased by about 0.3%, because it cancelled out the normal rotation and, with it, the normal centrifugal force and replaced it with a smaller rotation in the opposite direction. Concorde flew high enough that the weight of everyone onboard was reduced by an additional 0.6% due to the increased distance from the centre of the Earth.
Concorde’s cruising speed exceeded the top speed of the solar solar terminator. Concorde was able to overtake or outrun the spin of the earth. On westbound flights it was possible to arrive at a local time earlier than the flight’s departure time. On certain early evening transatlantic flights departing from Heathrow or Paris, it was possible to take off just after sunset and catch up with the sun, landing in daylight. This was much publicised by British Airways, who used the slogan “Arrive before you leave.”
Concorde Class was amazing and full of style – toasting the take off with caviar and champagne, followed by a five course gourmet meal. Nearly 12 miles high, above 90 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere, the flight was rarely rocked by turbulence. The view out of small cabin window of the planet’s curvature, and the darkness of space was spectacular.
The toilets were at front and centre of the cabin, there was baggage space under forward cabin and aft of cabin. Passenger doors forward of cabin and amidships on port side, with service doors opposite. There was a baggage door aft of cabin on starboard side. The emergency exits were in rear half of cabin on each side. Concorde had two galley areas, one in the centre and the other at the rear of the cabin.
Planned passenger cabin upgrades
With the aircraft grounded due to the Paris crash in 2000, but with a good chance of only being temporary, British Airways even looked into the possibilities of bring forward the recently announced cabin upgrade to take advantage of the down time. The £14 million upgrade, which had been announced at the start of the year, would ensure the interior of the aircraft is as elegant as the exterior.
Interior experts Conran & Partners led by Sir Terence Conran advised on colours, fabrics and accessories working with London based consultancy Factory Design, the British Airways Design and Brand Management teams and Britax Aircraft Interior Systems
The key features of the planned upgrade were:
New seats in ink-blue Connolly leather and fabric with a cradle mechanism, footrest and contoured headrest for more comfort and support The design was inspired by the classic Charles & Ray Eames chairs, and uses new technology and materials that are per cent lighter, this BA hoped would lead to almost £1 million a year in fuel efficiencies. The interior of the passenger cabin would be lighter and brighter with different lighting filters to give a fresher look which would change to a cool blue wash throughout the cabin when Concorde flies through the sound barrier at Mach one . New more spacious Toilets in aqua green and stainless steel with opaque wall panels that are up-lit and down-lit would help give a sense of more space.
New Galleys: New lighter and more efficient galleries were to be fitted to the aircraft. The galleys, both at the front and rear of the aircraft, would feature a ‘Stainless Steel look’ similar to that found in restaurant kitchens New Mach meter: Improved Mach meters will be installed to replace the marrilite displays that have been a feature of the aircraft for many years. The stylish new display will fit in with the ultra modern feel that the new
Overall look will provide, but also still give the information that the passengers’ want to have their picture taken next to. These new interiors would the take advantage of using modern technologies which would result in a weight saving of 400Kg. This saving would largely off-sets the additional weight being added to the fuel tanks by the Kevlar-rubber liners and means that Concorde could continue to operate at the range and capacity it enjoyed up to 2001, although the main saving would be through the use of the new tyres which are 20Kgs lighter each.
Air France were understood to be considering a cabin upgrade to replace the interiors that were installed many years ago to upgrade the seating that was originally fitted to the aircraft when they were delivered in the 1970’s