Concorde to Fly Again?

When I first starting selling cruises I remember selling packages with Concorde and Cunard’s QE2, one of my biggest regrets was not to have booked to fly on Concorde but I was young and didn’t realise what a huge Global  Icon Concorde actually was!

I saw on our local news last night that Concorde may yet return to our skies and if she does I will definitely be booking my ticket to New York

I think it’s one of those things that will never be seen again, a bit like the last voyage on board QE2 before she retired, you just have to do these things before they are gone forever, after a series of problems following the crash, Concorde was taken out of service in 2003

The news had a lovely story about a couple who had won a competition to get married on Concorde at Heathrow airport and then fly to New York for their honeymoon – what an amazing prize – and they are still together!!

Travelling westwards the five-hour time difference meant Concorde landed before arrival time caught up with the local departure time, cruising at around 1,350 mph, a crossing from Europe to New York took less than three and a half hours – the record crossing stands at 2hrs 52mins 59secs

My husband has fond memories of his dad returning from business in New York with the next days newspaper …

Enough funds have been raised to buy a Concorde with the aim of getting it flying again by 2019, a group of British enthusiasts says.

Club Concorde made up of former captains, charterers and aviation fans, says it has £120m in reserve for the “return to flight” plan.

The group also plans to put another of the supersonic aircraft on permanent display in central London.

Concorde, which can travel at twice the speed of sound, last flew in 2003.

Negotiations are now under way to try to purchase or lease the two aircraft. Club Concorde president Paul James said they were hoping to source both the display and flight jets from France but no agreements had yet been made

“We have been overwhelmed by the amount of enthusiasm and people wanting to invest,” Mr James said.

“The support shows how much people still admire Concorde and want to see it flying again.

Mr James said he was confident a plane would be secured and hoped flights would start by 2019 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Concorde’s first flight.

Club Concorde’s plan started after the group raised £40million to try to display a jet on London’s South Bank close to the London Eye.

“It is a global icon,” Mr James said. “All the authorities have been very keen on our idea to bring Concorde to the river as a tourist attraction and London Eye have agreed we could share their landing stage.”

I would love to fly Supersonic to New York and cruise back in the luxury of Queen Mary – how about you??