Palma airport has witnessed some of the world’s most iconic planes over the years but none will probably beat the one and only flight Concorde made to Mallorca in 1983.
The BA plane came from Manchester and made the journey in about two hours.
The flight took slightly longer than usual at the time due to the fact that in order to break the sound barrier it was necessary to fly out over the Atlantic to break the sound barrier and then head for Palma. During the crossing it exceeded Mach 2.
This was the first and only time that a Concorde landed at Son Sant Joan on the 22nd of October 1983. This trip, which was marketed in the UK as “Concorde Mallorca”, was made to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the first flight of a British Airways aircraft. The flight was promoted on British television at the time and became a major publicity event for Mallorca.
The flight between Manchester and Mallorca was flown by a Concorde with the registration G-BOAB. The captain flying was H. J. Linfield.
G-BOAB was the third Concorde delivered to British Airways, arriving in 1976. The British Airways Concordes also flew for Braniff International Airlines in the United States.
Today, G-BOAB is parked at Heathrow Airport and is visible to passengers departing from the airport.
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A great Aircraft. Such a shame it became too expensive to operate. There is a new Aircraft being developed to fly faster than Concord. I did not fly on Concord. But I will save up to fly the new Aircraft. For me speed is good for Air Transport.