A couple of friends say they've heard reports that the Concorde will be back in the air this spring. I can't find anything online about this - anyone have anything semi-official to confirm this?

I heard that British Airways was expected to recertify its Concorde fleet in early 2001 but I have not heard anything regarding Air France.

Wouldnt the European counterpart of the FAA have to certify the aircraft first (ie. declare it airworthy?). Im not sure this is the same as BA getting it certified.

Also, would it be safe to assume that only BA would resume its flights with Concorde even if AF continued to keep its birds grounded?


------------------
Gaucho100K

The BA concordes are British registered and would be certified by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The Daily Telegraph reported today that next month, 50 of British Airways most frequent customers have been invited to join the chief pilot of the Concorde fleet in an inch by inch examination of the of the first of BA�s seven Concordes to have completed safety modifications to fuel tanks and landing gear as well as a 14 million pound cabin refit. When the 50 top executives come to Heathrow next month, it will be to look all over the aircraft, touch it, feel it, squeeze it and see exactly all the work that has been done. In April, BA will be putting on a similar presentation for their top 50 customers in New York.

The first technical proving flight and then the first route proving flight and then finally the first flight are expected in late spring or early summer, however a definite date is unknown because they �simply don�t know.� It will take a collective final approval to relaunch the plane into scheduled service, according to BA.