Concorde being retired at the end of 2003
 

Sad to say, BA is retiring Concorde at the end of 2003. Air France will probably do the same because they can't support the plane by themselves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2934257.stm
British Airways will confirm on Thursday that it is retiring its supersonic Concorde service, the BBC has learned.
Passenger numbers have never recovered since the crash near Paris in 2000 and the aircraft no longer makes a profit.

Concorde is expected to cease flying in the autumn, probably when BA's summer timetable ends on the last weekend of October, BBC transport correspondent Simon Montague said.

Refer to the article for more details.

If AF grounds Concorde, there will be no reason for the NW-CO-DL link. The only reason I thought it was any good was because I wanted to use NW miles for an AF Concorde award. It looks like there won't be the plane, much less an award (which has not yet been offered)

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/frown.gif

Good! How can anyone possibly be in that much of a hurry?

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/eek.gif I can't speak for who might be in "a hurry", or whose time may be more valuable than the money spent on a ticket, but I'll be sad to see one of the most beautiful aircraft in the world sit grounded forever http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/frown.gif

Has this been confirmed by BA...?

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The buzz on the BA board says October 23, 2003 is her last day in revenue service. The announcement from BA is scheduled for tomorrow.

I blame Yoko Ono for this.

Time is money and all that...... I remember when Live Aid was staged in London then the US on the same day in part due to concorde.


BA have confirmed it today http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/frown.gif

Yoko or not, so long Concorde.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/tra...p?story=395748

So, why did they stop building these in the first place? You'd think by now, we'd have newer, cheaper, faster versions of supersonic planes. what went wrong?

I think that fact that a lot of US cites band the thing didn't help much. I think it was down to noise and pollution etc.

Wow, the ultimate status vehicles will be on the market! I wonder if Saddam will pick up one for his personal collection? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

Accounts on the UK radio at the moment that BA will have a series of offers for one-way Concorde flights, returning by 747. Sounds like a "Now or Never" chance. Well, I guess for me it has to be Now.

Here are the special offers:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel...e/public/en_gb

(Edited to add the link)

[This message has been edited by WHBM (edited 04-10-2003).]

I heard on CNNfn this am that Air France will be reiring theirs, as well.

And the incredibly high fuel consumption.