Flying Lawyer,
Thank you for that insight. (or should I say: "I am much indebted, m'lud." ?)
Capetonian,
the crux of the matter was that Airbus/Aerospatiale pulled the plug on maintenance and spares, no doubt under pressure from AF, and there was therefore no chance for Concorde to maintain her CoA? I note that this was not mentioned on last night's programme
I seem to recollect that they did mention that Airbus had announced an increase of £40m in maintenance charges. They also noted that, following upon 911 when forty of their regulars were murdered, transatlantic Concorde traffic declined and AF discontinued operations.
Perhaps Jock Lowe could weigh in (suitably disguised) with some definitive comment.