The final flight

With the deafening roar that has come to characterise its 34 years of supersonic history, Concorde took off for the last time today. Rising in a haze from the northern runway at Heathrow, BA9021 took off for Edinburgh, via the Bay of Biscay, to the cheers of spectators.

It returned later for a dramatic fly-past over London and the South-East alongside another two Concorde flights laid on for competition winners - one from New York, the other a trip over the Atlantic from Heathrow.

In a poignant grand finale the three supersonic jets - which first took to the skies in 1969 - landed within minutes of each other at 4.01, 4,03 and 4.05pm.

Shortly before piloting the last commercial flight from New York, chief Concorde pilot Captain Mike Bannister said he would look back at his time behind the controls with a mixture of pride and sadness.

Captain Bannister, 54, said: "In a few moments we shall travel to the edge of space. We shall travel so fast we shall be going faster than the earth rotates.

"What we have tried to do is to make the retirement of Concorde a celebration - something that both the public and the airline can look back at with pride.

"I am proud and privileged to be flying the aircraft today. I shall be thinking of all the people in BA who've kept this plane flying successfully for 27 years."

Joan Collins, Sir David Frost and models Jodie Kidd and Christie Brinkley were among the 100 invited passengers on the plane which was due to take off from JFK Airport at noon British time.

Passengers on BA02 will have a special champagne breakfast including Scottish smoked salmon with caviar and lobster fishcakes with Bloody Mary relish and wilted spinach.

Sir David said he was sad to see the aircraft being retired because it was the only way he could be "in two places at once".

He said: "You can be in London at 10 o'clock and in New York at 10 o'clock. I have never found another way of being in two places at once. I am going to miss it. I will miss the club-like atmosphere."

Stepping aboard, Joan Collins said: "It's a fantastic aircraft. I think the fact that it's going to be phased out is quite tragic. It's very fast."

She added: "I feel excited and sad and filled with anticipation. The first time I ever flew Concorde was a bit of a white knuckle ride. I am more used to it now, it's so wonderful to make the journey in three and a half hours. Concorde was a fantastic achievement. It was a great technological achievement. I am very honoured to be on the last flight."

Ms Brinkley said: "The best part about flying Concorde is when you go twice the speed of sound and you can see the curvature of the earth and, sometimes, the Northern Lights."

BA chairman Lord Marshall, also on board, added: "Concorde is a wonderful aircraft and her last day is one of mixed emotions." Another passenger on the last flight was motor racing's Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone.

He said: "I flew on the very first day of passenger services with Air France on Concorde from Paris to Rio, so it's nice to be on the very last one as well. It's been such a useful sort of plane." Jodie Kidd said: "I'm really excited but really sad. I always really love the rush of take-off. I am just a speed freak."

Concorde's last day has attracted aviation enthusiasts from all over Britain and abroad.

Plane spotters flocked to Heathrow from early morning with long lens cameras and information packs on the supersonic jet.

A group of seven plane spotters arrived from Sweden last night.

Christopher Hammarborg, 21, from Stockholm, arrived last night and checked in at a hotel at Heathrow. He plans to spend his whole weekend taking photographs.

"I've come to see Concorde for the last time and photograph it. It's the greatest plane there is and I've never seen it before so it's my last opportunity to see the plane, " said Mr Hammarborg, who works in a photography lab in the Swedish capital. His friend, Spencer Wilmot, 30, originally from London, who flew in from Gothenberg, recalled his one experience of flying on Concorde back in 1988.

"I was on my way back from New York to London, and it was fantastic. It was a tremendous experience, the service was excellent and the speed was just unbelievable," he said.

He added: "It was the pride of British aviation. They should keep it in service for much longer." Supersonic flight for commercial airliners was born more than 30 years ago when Concorde took off for the first time from an airport near Bristol in 1969.

The plane began commercial duty on 21 January 1976, when it flew from Heathrow to Bahrain, before embarking on its London to New York route later that year.

Over the course of its life, it has carried 2.5 million passengers on just under 50,000 flights. There were 12 Concordes, seven owned by BA and five by Air France.

Cruising at twice the speed of sound, or Mach 2, Concorde cut the seven-hour London to New York flight to three and a half hours.

An Air France Concorde went down in flames just outside Paris in July 2000 with the loss of 113 lives.

Now the plane's insatiable appetite for fuel and costly maintenance has combined with poor ticket sales to force the fleet into retirement.

BA may keep one Concorde flightworthy for special occasions such as fly-pasts but it is unlikely ever to carry paying passengers.

Virgin Atlantic's Sir Richard Branson offered £1 million for each plane but was turned down by BA. He now advocates a Heritage Trust to safeguard Concorde.

"It would be a huge shame if today's flight really was Concorde's last," he said.