Following so much rivalry and court cases between BA and Virgin, giving them to Branson would have been the last thing that BA would have wanted.
An interesting early problem with Concord was it was not making a profit so they asked some businessmen how much they thought their tickets had cost. The seriously under estimated so BA increased the fare to what they had thought they cost and from that point on it made a good profit, mostly contributing 25% to BAs total profit.
The French crash put a stop to that and then once they were modified and in the air again soon after came 9/11 which put an end to long distance air travel and paticularly to Concord flights.
It was amusing that so many people paid £1000 for a short Concord trip!
BA grounded its seven-strong Concorde fleet six years ago and gave six to museums. But it kept one, Alpha Bravo, and for the past six years hid it away behind the airline’s engineering base at the eastern end of Heathrow. Only those who know where to look will see the distinctive slender nose.
By contrast, an Air France Concorde stands proudly on a plinth outside the airline’s headquarters at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris. Another one is preserved at the Paris Air and Space Museum by former engineers who regularly run the electronic and hydraulic systems.
BA ordered in 2003 that Concorde’s systems should be disabled. Jock Lowe, the marque’s former chief pilot, accused the airline at the time of undermining efforts to operate heritage flights.
Despite making up to £20 million profit a year from Concorde during 27 years of commercial flights, BA is refusing to help any of the groups seeking to get the aircraft back in the air. It has repeatedly rejected requests to publish a feasibility study. BA claims it showed that it would be too expensive, but it will not share the figures with the Save Concorde Group, which believes it could raise sponsorship for a return to flight. A BA spokesman said: “It is an internal document and wasn’t intended to be shared. It has commercial information in it.”
The airline has also been distancing itself from Concorde in its branding. Two years ago, BA removed a model of Concorde from a roundabout on the approach road from the M4 to Heathrow where it had been for 16 years. It has been replaced with a model of an Emirates Airbus A380 superjumbo.
Tony
