Sun, Apr 27, 2003
Virgin Atlantic's Effort To Save Supersonic Airliner
Some men's garbage is other men's treasures.
That's why Virgin Atlantic mogul Richard Branson is reportedly
considering purchasing the entire British Airways fleet of
Concordes, hoping to keep the era of supersonic air travel alive.
But Branson has a big job in front of him - persuading British
officials to allow the transfer of aero technology.
Cheap Seats?
Branson's offer to British Airways amounts to about $1.57 for
each of the Concordes. Branson's company, Virgin Group PLC, in
partnership with Singapore Airlines, believes it can run the
Concordes cheaper on every flight. But the key, says the
billionaire flyboy, is to get the closely-guarded Concorde
operating data from British Airways.
Both BA and Air France, the two airlines which operate Concorde
flights, plan to ground the supersonic airliners later this year.
They say the demand for three-hour transatlantic flights, complete
with airline food that blows away any competition and free
champagne, just isn't there in the post 9/11 environment. But
Branson, ever the optimist, believes differently.
“We would need enough time to actually make it
feasible,” said Virgin spokeswoman Anna Burdsall. “If
we don’t receive anything from them, Richard was considering
asking the government if they could do anything to
intervene.” But chances of an intervention seem slimmer by
the day. BA says the Concordes will head straight from the
flightline to museums. BA has already been deluged by hundreds of
requests from museums and collectors, all eager to have a Concorde
as a centerpiece exhibit. They’re still reviewing them.
“When you’ve got seven to go around, some people will
be disappointed,” BA spokesman RichardGoodfellow said.
“But we haven’t named names as yet.”
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