Branson bid wins Government support
UK: Trade secretary is very interested in Virgin proposal, say reports
Sir Richard Branson appears to have won the support of the Government in his struggle to keep Concorde in the air.
According to reports in the weekend’s newspapers, the trade secretary Patricia Hewitt has stated that she is very interested in Virgin Atlantic’s efforts to buy the legendary jet when it is taken out of service by British Airways in the autumn. He is offering to pay £1, the same amount British Airways is reported to have paid the Government for the aircraft.
Sir Richard has stated that he wants to run the Concorde fleet for some 20 or 30 years and is believed to have written to the Government outlining his plans. According to the Daily Mail, Miss Hewitt told Radio 4: “I shall be very interested to look at any proposition from Richard Branson. I haven’t had one yet but I will look at it and discuss the idea with the transport secretary Richard Darling.
A spokesman for British Airways told the newspaper: “We carried out an in-depth review of Concorde with the manufacturer, Airbus. Regrettably this clearly established there was no realistic prospect for the operation of Concorde services beyond 2003, whether by us or any other operator.”
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