Richard Branson was on TV News here today pushing hard the line he wants to buy the Concordes, make them 2 classes, (front and back cabins?) and fly them for another 20 years under Virgin livery. Says it would add 'prestige' to his airline. (No kidding!)

The UK minister involved was on TV stating they were not inclined to order BA to sell them to him for his requested £1 each. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

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~ Glen ~

I wouldn't be surprised if regular AF Concorde flyers would take a connecting flight to take Concorde from Heathrow between May31 and October.

The guy I sat next to on my flight shared his time between Manhasset (on Long Island) and Paris. He told me he used to fly AF Concorde regularly but found out the service on BA was better so tried it once and never went back to AF again so that morning he had taken a BA connecting CDG flight.

He must have been a regular as I fondly remember the FAs were addressing him by his first name and he was having a moan at me saying the food was the same as he had last week. He also got the metaphorical frequent R traveller 'bonus points' for reading the paper during takeoff, refusing champagne etc.

I know that many people on this site have flown lots on Concorde and it becomes almost blase but I will always fondly remember my flight and I am sure that the Concorde era will be looked upon as the golden age of travel.

[This message has been edited by fbgdavidson (edited 05-06-2003).]

I don't know if the Minister involved had a different message for Oz TV http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif. Over here, she was saying that she was looking forward 'very much' to discussing RB's proposal.

For the record, she's Patricia Hewitt and her transport minister is Alastair Darling.

See BBC story Minister's interest in Concorde plan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3001411.stm


[edited to add BBC kink]

[This message has been edited by Roger (edited 05-06-2003).]

BA do not sound too keen. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

http://business.iafrica.com/features/232828.htm

"The Concorde is not for sale," (BA) said regarding Branson's hopes of saving the Concorde from museums and flying it under his Virgin Atlantic banner.

Branson promises no slogan

Branson promised not to criticise rival British Airways for its resistance if it does hand the planes over.

"I give an absolute pledge to BA today that we will never carry a slogan on its side saying "BA couldn't keep it up," Branson said in closing his speech to industry officials.

Virgin flew an airship over the London Eye ferris wheel in 1999 with the barbed slogan "BA can't get it up" when engineers had difficulty erecting the BA-sponsored millennium anniversary structure

Roger ... checked some news wires, and yes, this version of events does seem to be the official party line. VERY interesting. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-12308238,00.html

Last Updated: 10:24 UK, Tuesday May 06, 2003

VIRGIN TARGETS CONCORDE

UK Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt says she is "very interested" in Richard Branson's bid to take over the running of Concorde when it is axed by British Airways.

The billionaire entrepreneur is stepping up efforts to buy the supersonic passenger jet from BA.

The Virgin Atlantic boss has called on the Government to pressure BA into handing over its operating figures.

BA plans to retire Concorde in October - it blames falling passenger numbers since the crash near Paris three years ago that killed 113 people.

Sir Richard has offered BA £1 per plane. He says he can make the aircraft pay.

Ms Hewitt says she has yet received a proposal from Sir Richard but indicated she would welcome one.

"I shall be very interested indeed to look at any proposition from Richard Branson," the minister said.

"I haven't had one yet but I will look at it and discuss the idea with (Transport Secretary) Alistair Darling."

Asked why she believed BA had decided to pension Concorde off, Ms Hewitt said: "That is an extremely interesting and important question.

"It is one that I shall be very happy to discuss with Richard Branson."

As reported on the BA forum, BA has released many seats for award travel on Concorde for May & June. May 19, 20, 21, 24 and 25 showing availability for two passengers on the BA site (JFK-LHR.) (Only return open is May 25 however.)

That is fabulous news. Hopefully some other FlyerTalkers will be able to snag seats JFK/LHR on 7/18/03 and on to DUS for what we know will be another wonderful Bernie hosted party. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Glen

Just tried to read your trip report but can't access it. Is your website down?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

Concorde menu/boarding pass link is back up now LondonElite. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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~ Glen ~

Come visit HERE the most ** FRIENDLY FORUM ** on FlyerTalk. No flame wars, no personal abuse, no substance abuse. Not much of anything really!

Glen

Great report, super collector's items as well.

Just one typo comment:

- Concorde expands by about 6 inches (not 6 feet!). There's a good Q&A on this here.

Cheers

[This message has been edited by LondonElite (edited 05-14-2003).]

For those of you that want to fly Concorde before they go under, I would say just do a one-way flight with Concorde and go back in F on a 747 so you can lay down and sleep.

The food was simply horrible on my two flights, not even as good as AA B-class international. First, the steak was under-cooked and I could not chew through it. On the return flight, the Lobster Fish Cakes had been previously frozen (or at least the lobster had been). Try eating unfrozen lobster meat some time and you'll see what I mean.

I'm just 6 feet tall... the man sitting next to me was about 6'3" or taller.... we could not eat at the same time because we were bumping elbows.

What is with those seats? The back does not recline, the whole chair simply pivots back, raising your legs. For me, it was a pain in my back I don't want to re-live. Don't sit in the window seat unless you are dressed in a t-shirt, the skin of the jet gets very very hot going supersonic and the heat radiates into the cabin.... touch the window and it's as hot as a cup of coffee.

As for the speed of the thing, it was fast, no doubt about that.... and it was a clean plane! The lounge, both in New York and London were fantastic. The crew were very nice, although I really felt like a youngster.

To me, Concorde seems a bit watered-down now. I can't imagine it's been like this the entire time they've been in service.

Just my .02

CF

I must agree with your comments in that at least one outbound flight is worth the experience as I did last year with a return in F. While airline food has never been terrific, I was disappointed with the quality of the meal on my JFK-LHR flight back in June 2002 and I much preferred the space and accomodations on my return flight home from LHR to SFO.

I'm going to try another flight in July 2003, provided that space is available for a quick weekend trip to LHR on Concorde, but having experienced it once, I must say that while the opportunity was a thrill to do so, I much prefer F on BA.

Even more seats:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/003977.html

While attempting to book an weekend trip to Paris in July, I noticed that there are seats on Concorde almost the entire month using BA miles. I guess they opened up more award seats.