Last flight of the Concorde

By CAHAL MILMO

The last Concorde to take the skies carrying fare-paying passengers took off from London bound for New York on Thursday night as preparations were finalised for the supersonic jet's retirement.

The British Airways flight, BA001, took off at 6.30pm (6.30am Friday) carrying a full complement of 100 passengers ahead of a valedictory return to Heathrow this afternoon.

Three of the planes, which first entered commercial service in January 1976, will land consecutively at around 4pm in a final flurry of activity for the sleek, gas-guzzling aircraft that became a symbol of Anglo-French engineering and pampered travelling.

More than 150,000 people were expected to gather at the airport despite warnings from police and BAA, the company which owns Heathrow, that virtually all vantage points will be shut to the public.

BA said the final fare-paying flight, for which passengers had paid an average (pounds sterling)4,621 for the single fare to New York's JFK airport, had been fully booked for weeks.

A spokeswoman said: "The plane has been chock-a-block for weeks. People who had planned a Concorde trip for some time in the future realised that time was running out."

The aircraft will return to London from New York at 7am local time tomorrow carrying a full payload of invited guests, showbiz personalities, media and BA's chairman, Lord Marshall.

Among the passengers will be Joan Collins, television presenter Jeremy Clarkson and Sir David Frost, who has been one of Concorde's most frequent fliers in its 27 years of service.

The only paying passenger on board will be an Ohio businessman who paid an undisclosed sum in a charity auction for two seats on the plane.

The flight will be the last of the three Concordes to touch down, preceded by one flight from Edinburgh and another from Heathrow, both carrying 100 competition winners.

Thousands of spectators are expected to turn up at the airport to try to see the landings despite warnings from police that it could lead to gridlock.

BAA has erected a 1,000-seat grandstand for invited guests but other members of the public have been told the best policy is to stay at home and watch the occasion on television.

A BAA spokesman said: "It will not be possible to see Concorde at Heathrow - the rooftop car parks and viewing platforms will be closed. The best view will be from live coverage on several of television channels."

The retirement of BA's seven Concordes, which follows the decision by Air France to stop its flights in May following the Paris crash in 2000, sparked a storm of protest that the planes were being prematurely decommissioned.

Sir Richard Branson led the dissent by demanding that his Virgin Atlantic airline be allowed to buy the jets for (pounds sterling)1m a piece. BA is expected to announce shortly whether it will allow Concorde to remain in the skies by maintaining one of the aircraft for fly-pasts and air shows.

- INDEPENDENT