From the BA 2004/05 annual report (confirming what I have just written)

In order to protect the operating rights of the company, the number of ordinary shares held by non-UK nationals is monitored, as is the number of ordinary shares held by persons who are not nationals of states comprising the European Economic Area. At March 31, 2005, 38 per cent of the ordinary shares of the company were held by non-UK nationals (2004: 31 per cent) and 16 per cent of the ordinary shares were held by persons who were not nationals of states comprising the European Economic Area (2004: 22 per cent). Although there are no large interests of single or associated non-UK nationals, the directors cannot rule out the possibility that they may be
required to exercise their powers to restrict non-UK or non-EEA share ownership in order to protect the company’s operating rights.

The 330’s were on their way back to the US from Iraq having been out there for some months.

I assume that the original plan was that they were to be replaced by the two 360s that crashed near Milwaukee as these were due to be flying out there 🙁

Bit silly of them to spend all that money reinforcing the fuel tanks and upgrading the cabin interiors then eh 😀 It was 9/11 that killed it off in the end.

I agree that 9/11 and the near total loss of premium traffic in the months that followed was the final nail in their coffin but I would suggest that the Paris crash was the real reason for their demise of Concorde.

Yes, BA spent a lot of money reinforcing the tanks and upgrading the interior, but BA also spent a lot of money repainting the tails in ethnic colours with the avowed intention of repositioning the airline aimed more at the cattle class passenger, an idea that was eventually dumped.

To have not got the aircraft back into the skies, however much it cost, might have been seen as implicitly agreeing that the aircraft was not (and had never been) safe during its operating life. Something that would have had severe legal and financial implications had it ever been raised in a court of law.

Mr B – i must own to being a little rubbish on airliners &c. but i was sure that there was a Canadian 4 engined tp which looked damn similar to a Brit…?

You could get right up close Ollie

TT

It wasn’t one of the exotic registered Il-18s that work out of Sharjah, was it? I saw one or two at Columbo when I was there back in 2000.

Do they still have the anti-aircraft gun pointing at the front of the queue of cars at the security check point on the way into the airport?

OK I’ll create the thread then…

Thanks, I couldn’t find anything on a quick google 🙁

And what’s that in the background next to the hangar?

http://ox18.net/carterton/raf/pictures/9997page3.jpg

That’s Sky Commuter, a new airline that is based in Jersey but
operates 1 route from Cambridge – Oxford
It is run by Rangemile Ltd, they have a few aircraft including
Cessna Citation, Jetstream 31 and Piper Navajo 😉

Sam

Sorry, I should have mentioned that the article said that it was being operated by Sky Commuter.

The picture of 4513 looks very like a picture that I think was posted over on modern a while back of some ex Czech MiG-21s stored in Russia somewhere.