Sir Richard in secret talks claim

Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson claims he has been told by Airbus that it will support him in a bid to relaunch Concorde when it is retired later this year.

As reported by News From Abroad, Virgin Atlantic has expressed interest in running the legendary jet when BA stops running the service at the end of October, but BA appears to be dead-set against Branson having anything to do with Concorde.

The flag-carrier, along with Airbus, which makes the jets, are reported to have told Virgin that the supersonic jet is not economically viable. However, Sir Richard reportedly told The Sunday Express he has been assured by Airbus executives that the group is still interested in working with Concorde and keeping it in the air.

He said the conversation took place a week before Airbus declared that it would “absolutely not support and initiative to put Concorde back into the sky by any other operator”. The newspaper further reports that Branson is to meet Airbus executives next week to continue talks.