Branson Wants Virgin Concordes

On the off chance that the flamboyant owner can turn a profit in the supersonic market, British Airways (BA) is saying “No, thank you” to Virgin Atlantic Airways owner Richard Branson’s offer to take seven Concordes off its hands. BA announced last week it was retiring the Concordes by October due to falling revenue and increasing expenses and planned to turn the aircraft over to any museum that wanted one. That riled Branson’s patriotic sensibilities and aroused his entrepreneurial spirit. Branson said the aircraft were developed with a healthy infusion of taxpayers’ pounds (and francs) and if need be, he would appeal to the government to decide their fate. Branson has already dashed off a letter to BA saying there was plenty of room in his hangars for the Concordes. “At the moment I’ve had a negative response and so I think our next move is to go to the government and ask them if they can intervene on our behalf,” he said. “I hope by September-October you will see Concorde in Virgin colors, not British Airways colors. The Concorde has another good 15 years of flying to go,” Branson told Fox News.