Scotland landed a Concorde???

From Concorde SST.com

It is looking likely that British Airways have agreed to retire one of its seven-strong fleet of aircraft to the National Museum of Flight, run by the National Museums of Scotland, in East Lothian. An official announcement is expected within the next fortnight, according to the Scotsman.

Either Alpha-Alpha or Alpha-Bravo, which have not flew since August 2000, is likely to be delivered in pieces by lorries or barges, unless it proves more cost effective to return one to airworthiness.

Securing a Concorde is a major coup for the National Museums of Scotland, which has already announced plans for a £6m upgrade of their facility at East Fortune, which is south of Edinburgh near Musselburgh.

Museum chiefs aim to accommodate the aircraft in a specially-constructed hangar that will be the centrepiece of a major new display. They hope that visitor numbers will more than treble from around 60,000 to around 200,000 a year with Concorde as the major draw.

Architects are due to start work on the refurbishment programme this autumn and it is due to be completed in 2006. If the aircraft comes in by road and barge it is likely to come in via the local Cockenzie port.

The plan to bring Concorde to Scotland has attracted backing from politicians from across the political spectrum.

First Minister Jack McConnell gave an indication earlier this year that the Scottish Executive would support the bid and scores of MSPs signed a motion calling for an aircraft to be stationed north of the Border.

An Executive spokesman said last night that ministers could not comment until after an official announcement from BA. But he added: “The National Museums of Scotland bid for Concorde to come here has been strongly supported by Scottish ministers.”

Kenny McAskill, the Scottish National Party’s transport spokesman, said: “This will be an important boost for the museum and I’m sure it will prove to be of great benefit for tourism in East Lothian.” The National Museums of Scotland had at least 30 rivals, but its bid stressed the aircraft’s Scottish credentials – the designer of the revolutionary swept-back wings was a Scottish engineer, Sir James Arbuthnot Hamilton, from Penicuik in Midlothian, and numerous test flights were made out of Prestwick airport in the 1970s.

British Airways are hope to officially announce their plans on the aircraft’s fate this coming week. It is widely expected that:

G-BOAA will go to East Fortune
G-BOAB will remain at Heathrow
G-BOAC will go to Manchester
G-BOAD will go to New York
G-BOAE will go to Seattle
G-BOAF will go to Filton
G-BOAG will go to Barbados.
It now looks increasing unlikely that an aircraft will remain in the air in a heritage role, but should a way be found, G-BOAG is the natural choice.