September 29, 2003. Copyright, 2003, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Concorde -- End of a Dream

By Joanna Griffin

Concorde, for decades the ultimate in futuristic flying, is about to be consigned to history. In a few weeks its distinctive dart-shaped nose will dip to land for the last time when the plane is grounded permanently due to technical problems and an unfavourable economic climate.

Concorde will make its final flight for British Airways on October 23. The last Air France flight took place in June. The news of its demise months ago was greeted with dismay by engineers and other aficionados of the plane who have looked on it as Europe's answer to superior US and Far Eastern technology ever since Concorde made its first commerical flights in 1976.

Since then Concorde has flown twice a day from Paris and London to New York, and occasionally to Barbados. Cruising at 2,150km/h (1,350mph) at an altitude of 18,000m (60,000ft) the supersonic plane takes just three and a half hours to cross the Atlantic from Heathrow, breaking the sound barrier and effectively reaching the Big Apple even before it takes off -- due to the five-hour time difference.

But Concorde, the ultimate flight of fancy, has come crashing down to earth in the harsh post-September 11 climate. Falling passenger numbers on all routes have made it impossible to justify the costly maintenance programme manufacturer Airbus says is needed to ensure the planes are safe. In addition, British Airways and Air France have struggled to obtain the bespoke reinforced doors and other features now required by nervous Americans.

Safety became more of an issue than ever after Concorde's only crash, outside Paris in August 2000. That accident, which resulted in 114 deaths, was caused by a burst tyre and although engineers made extensive adjustments to the plane, including armour plating the fuel tanks, ConcordeÕs reputation was harder to fix. Technical problems, including four reported incidents in November 2002, meant Òthe ConkÓ never really recovered from its Paris low.

Nevertheless, British Airways did not give up its flagship service without a fight: in October 2001 the airline unveiled a GB£17 million revamp of its fleet, including a modern, spacious interior designed by Sir Terence Conran. The redesign was intended to inject some glamour back into the worldÕs most fashionable flight and to herald a new era in the skies.

In the end, however, the new era was shaped more by events in New York on September 11, 2001, which dented custom for all transatlantic routes. And perhaps there were always going to be too few people willing and able to pay the £3,500 upwards for a return flight to New York to make it viable Ð however many times Sting and Joan Collins made the journey.

Given the troubles currently facing the aerospace industry, it is hard to imagine anyone being brave enough to launch ConcordeÕs successor in the skies. Retiring its ageing fleet will cost British Airways a staggering £84 million in write-offs this year, but most will agree that Òthe ConkÓ was worth it.
/ENDS