lol – story in full!!

Last Updated: Sunday, 22 June, 2003, 10:08 GMT 11:08 UK

E-mail this to a friend Printable version

Branson ‘in new £5m Concorde bid’

Concorde is due to be grounded in October
Virgin airline boss Sir Richard Branson is renewing his attempt to buy five now-defunct Concorde supersonic airliners from British Airways with a £5m offer, newspapers say.

After its first bid offering just a pound apiece for the aircraft – the amount BA paid the government for the planes in 1984 – fell on deaf ears, Virgin turned to the government to intervene, but that plea, too, failed to get anywhere.

Now, though, Sir Richard is renewing his bid, reports in the Sunday press claim – partly, according to the Sunday Times, because of public clamour to keep the iconic planes flying.

But his efforts are likely to go unrewarded, the Observer says, not least because BA would be deeply reluctant to hand such a huge publicity coup to its arch-rival.

The airline said it is considering keeping one plane in flight-ready condition, for special occasions and airshows.

End of an era?

As it stands, BA will stop flying Concorde to New York in October after more than three decades, because the service is unprofitable.

Five planes fly the three-hour route, which – thanks to the fact that New York is five hours behind London in time-zone terms – gets passengers to the US seemingly two hours before they took off.

A further two planes are non-operational, and Virgin is believed to want them for free as part of the £5m offer, as sources for spare parts.

If the offer were successful, flights to New York and Barbados would continue, Sir Richard told the Sunday Times, and Dubai would be added as a new destination