Ozzy
Those who think it is merely a question of Virgin agreeing to stump up the increased maintenance fees to Airbus, where BA have declined to do so, are missing a crucial point.
Here is a recent quote from Noel Forgeard, Chief Executive of Airbus, in the Financial Times:
“We will absolutely not support any initiative to put Concorde back into operation by any other operator."
Regrettable though it may be, this is the current position of Airbus, and Forgeard has been clear and consistent in making this point to anyone who will listen.
Unless Virgin can get Airbus to change their stance about supporting Concorde with a new operator, they won't be flying it.
Had they been seen to make a strong, serious, genuine and well-planned attempt to change Airbus's view, then they would have attracted considerable goodwill and support from those associated with Concorde in BA, none of whom want to see her stop flying.
Sadly, they haven't, and that leaves many of us sharing NW1's suspicion that this is all just too good a chance to miss for some cheap shots at BA's expense.
If it is solely BA blocking the Virgin attempt to fly Concorde, then why not acquire the lower-hour AF Concordes, available from the end of this month, and start operations much earlier, possibly running a service in direct competition with BA?
I wonder why they’re not?
Regards
Bellerophon