Manchester to display retired Concorde
British Airways has announced seven of its Concordes, retired last week after 27 years of commercial service, are to go on display.
Four of the supersonic jets are to be displayed in Britain – at the headquarters of Airbus UK in Filton, Manchester airport, the Museum of Flight in Scotland, and at Heathrow Airport.
Two will be displayed in New York and Seattle and the seventh will go to Grantley Adams Airport in Bridgetown, Barbados.
But plans to fly the droop-nosed birds at airshows and ceremonial occasions have been shelved.
British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington, citing a detailed feasibility study conducted with Airbus, said “the technical and financial challenges of keeping a Concorde airworthy are absolutely prohibitive.”
Eighteen of the 20 Concordes that were produced still exist.
Air France grounded its five Concordes in May. One has gone to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Others will be displayed in France and Germany.
BA has sold more than £2 million of Concorde merchandise since the aircraft’s retirement was announced in April.
BA said it would also auction off memorabilia on December 1st at Olympia in London.
John Spooner, managing director at Manchester Airport, welcomed news that Concorde would be put on display at the northern city terminal, saying: “Concorde’s arrival is not only fantastic news for the thousands of aviation enthusiasts who visit our viewing park each year, but is great news for the region as a whole.
“Given Concorde’s unique appeal in aviation history and Manchester’s status as a centre of science and technology, it is fitting that one of the fleet has a permanent final home here at the airport.”
