Branson unveils £1 rescue bid for unwanted Concorde

Sir Richard Branson intervened to try to prevent the demise of Concorde last night – saying he was interested in taking over supersonic services when British Airways retires its fleet of seven aircraft this autumn.

Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard's long-haul airline, said that when the Conservative government sold Concorde to BA for £1 in the 1980s, the agreement stipulated that if another British company ever wanted to operate the fleet it could.

He said that since BA had confirmed the retirement of Concorde, Virgin had been inundated with calls from the public and BA staff asking if it could keep the aircraft flying. "As a result of the public's response today, I will be asking British Airways to provide me with the full operating figures," he added. "If, having examined the figures, Virgin Atlantic, with it lower cost base, believes it can make a success of it, we will be asking BA to give us the planes for the same price that they were given them together with the slots and other facilities that they use."

But Rod Eddington, BA's chief executive, ruled out the idea of Virgin or any other airline flying Concorde. "After 27 years' service, we intend to retire Concorde with dignity. It is an aeroplane which is part of the fabric of our company. We are not going to sell it to someone else."

Mr Eddington said BA had decided to retire Concorde because of falling passenger revenues and higher maintenance costs that meant the service was now losing millions of pounds a year. Since the crash of an Air France Concorde near Paris in July 2000, bookings had dipped sharply and the fall in revenues had been made worse by the economic downturn and the 11 September attacks. Bookings by business executives, who used to account for 70 per cent of traffic, were down by 80 to 90 per cent. Some valuable customers such as City and Wall Street investment banks had abandoned Concorde altogether after the collapse in share markets.

BA nevertheless pledged that Concorde would go out "on a high" and announced a series of special fares. Passengers who book within the next week will be able to fly return from London to New York for half the standard £8,000 fare.

A range of other fares is on offer including a £1,999 return trip flying out by Concorde and returning ordinary economy class. The offers only apply, though, to about 10 of the 100 seats on each flight.

Sir Richard said his intervention might come to nothing but he added: "I believe that every effort should be made to keep Concorde flying as it is such an important symbol of British innovation."

If the rescue bid fails, then two of the seven Concordes in the BA fleet are expected to find new homes in air museums in the UK. The remainder will be sold or donated to overseas museums. Mr Eddington said he had been flooded with calls from museums since the announcement.

The retirement of Concorde will result in a one-off £84m write-down in BA's books to cover the value of spares it still carries. That is likely to plunge the airline into an accounting loss for the financial year that has just ended.

BA had already cuts its service to New York from two to one a day in response to the economic downturn. It will now cease services entirely from the end of October.

Separately, Air France announced that it would retire its Concorde fleet at the end of May in an attempt to stem annual loses running at €30m to €50m (£20m to £34m).

A supersonic journey

1956: Creation of the Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough.

1962: Britain and France join forces to build the supersonic airliner.

1968: First public appearance at the Paris air show.

1976: First commercial Concorde flight leaves Heathrow. Immediate backlash from nearby residents over sonic boom.

1980: Concorde flies from London to New York in record 2 hours, 59mins, 36 seconds.

1989: First sign of engineering problems as section of rudder falls off during take-off from Christchurch. Two more rudder failures in the next two years.

2000: July: Air France Concorde crashes in Paris, killing all 109 passengers and crew.

2001: Flights resumed after safety precautions are introduced.

2003 April: British Airways and Air France announce end of commercial flights.