how much to bring back Concorde
May 22, 2014 | 4:37 pm
#1
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how much to bring back Concorde
I know it's a bit of a guess. But what would the cost be to bring Concorde back into service. I know RB offered a younger in cheek £1m, but how many more tens or hundreds of millions would if cost to get it to fly again?
May 22, 2014 | 6:38 pm
#4
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May 23, 2014 | 4:30 am
#5
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If you're wondering about the latter, just look up how much jet fuel cost in 2003 and how much it costs now. For all the nostalgia about Concorde and the conspiracy theories about her retirement, it seems clear to me that the increases in the cost of fuel over the last 10 years would have done for her viability as an airliner even if both airlines and Airbus had all been madly keen on keeping her in service in perpetuity.
May 23, 2014 | 5:06 am
#6
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Do you mean to get her to fly once, or to fly regularly in service?
If you're wondering about the latter, just look up how much jet fuel cost in 2003 and how much it costs now. For all the nostalgia about Concorde and the conspiracy theories about her retirement, it seems clear to me that the increases in the cost of fuel over the last 10 years would have done for her viability as an airliner even if both airlines and Airbus had all been madly keen on keeping her in service in perpetuity.
If you're wondering about the latter, just look up how much jet fuel cost in 2003 and how much it costs now. For all the nostalgia about Concorde and the conspiracy theories about her retirement, it seems clear to me that the increases in the cost of fuel over the last 10 years would have done for her viability as an airliner even if both airlines and Airbus had all been madly keen on keeping her in service in perpetuity.
May 23, 2014 | 5:31 am
#8
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I have a feeling, although definitely more of a hope than a prediction, that there are FT members who will live to see another supersonic passenger jet in service. My money would be on a next-generation craft powered by something like the 'air-breathing' SABRE rocket engine being tested by the UK-based company Reaction Engines.
May 23, 2014 | 5:32 am
#9
Join Date: Feb 2014
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To bring back a single aircraft for display purposes only could probably be done for a few 10s of millions. If and it's a big if BA or AF allow one to be used for such purpose.
As for bringing back a fleet to operate revenue service I think you'd be looking a several hundred million, and quite possibly a lot more. It would require significant commitment from the airlines, a manufacturer to sponsor the type approval of the aircraft and Rolls Royce to provide support for the engines. In short it would be a pipe dream. Despite the nostalgia I think it would be difficult to get airports to agree to the aircraft operating due to the very high noise levels. And finally the fares would have to cover the reentry into service costs as well as the direct operating costs. As such they would be astonishingly high, I'd have thought Etihad's Residence would be cheaper.
As for bringing back a fleet to operate revenue service I think you'd be looking a several hundred million, and quite possibly a lot more. It would require significant commitment from the airlines, a manufacturer to sponsor the type approval of the aircraft and Rolls Royce to provide support for the engines. In short it would be a pipe dream. Despite the nostalgia I think it would be difficult to get airports to agree to the aircraft operating due to the very high noise levels. And finally the fares would have to cover the reentry into service costs as well as the direct operating costs. As such they would be astonishingly high, I'd have thought Etihad's Residence would be cheaper.
May 23, 2014 | 9:46 am
#12
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,760
I don't know why people think fuel costs are a problem. BA was reporting making piles of money on the Concord flights. Obviously seats aren't going to be cheap but as long as people are willing to pay more than the fuel costs their seat costs and as long as the airlines can fill enough seats to maintain a viable schedule, what does it matter?
The real problem is that Concord was 1950s technology. The people with the technical expertise to maintain it, fthe people with the expertise to fly it, the suppliers for the parts it would need, and anything else it would need to run would be a herculean effort to source. And for that effort you would get a plane that didn't meet modern expectations for service (food, comfort, space), produced more noise than airports are willing to deal with, and would lack the modern safety devices that are expected today.
The situation is not unlike classic cars like the Mini. You can keep driving the old cars as a one-off but you're not going to put a lot of miles on them and the comfort, safety, and reliability will never match a modern car. If you want to produce a marketable version of it you'll start fresh with modern technology and make a new set of compromises and tradeoffs.
The real problem is that Concord was 1950s technology. The people with the technical expertise to maintain it, fthe people with the expertise to fly it, the suppliers for the parts it would need, and anything else it would need to run would be a herculean effort to source. And for that effort you would get a plane that didn't meet modern expectations for service (food, comfort, space), produced more noise than airports are willing to deal with, and would lack the modern safety devices that are expected today.
The situation is not unlike classic cars like the Mini. You can keep driving the old cars as a one-off but you're not going to put a lot of miles on them and the comfort, safety, and reliability will never match a modern car. If you want to produce a marketable version of it you'll start fresh with modern technology and make a new set of compromises and tradeoffs.
May 23, 2014 | 10:16 am
#13
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May 23, 2014 | 10:54 am
#14
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But all in all, that cost had nothing to do with BA....!
But all in all, that cost had nothing to do with BA....!
May 23, 2014 | 10:56 am
#15
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To bring back a single aircraft for display purposes only could probably be done for a few 10s of millions. If and it's a big if BA or AF allow one to be used for such purpose.
As for bringing back a fleet to operate revenue service I think you'd be looking a several hundred million, and quite possibly a lot more. It would require significant commitment from the airlines, a manufacturer to sponsor the type approval of the aircraft and Rolls Royce to provide support for the engines. In short it would be a pipe dream. Despite the nostalgia I think it would be difficult to get airports to agree to the aircraft operating due to the very high noise levels. And finally the fares would have to cover the reentry into service costs as well as the direct operating costs. As such they would be astonishingly high, I'd have thought Etihad's Residence would be cheaper.
As for bringing back a fleet to operate revenue service I think you'd be looking a several hundred million, and quite possibly a lot more. It would require significant commitment from the airlines, a manufacturer to sponsor the type approval of the aircraft and Rolls Royce to provide support for the engines. In short it would be a pipe dream. Despite the nostalgia I think it would be difficult to get airports to agree to the aircraft operating due to the very high noise levels. And finally the fares would have to cover the reentry into service costs as well as the direct operating costs. As such they would be astonishingly high, I'd have thought Etihad's Residence would be cheaper.