Travellers Vote to Keep Concorde at Heathrow Gateway

LONDON, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Concorde continues to hold a special place in the hearts of the world's flying public according to the results of a recent poll conducted on leading aviation website www.flightglobal.com

Visitors to the site were asked which aircraft should replace the BAC-Aerospatiale Concorde at the entrance to London Heathrow airport. They overwhelmingly voted to keep Concorde - 71% of the 3,700 respondents wanting to be welcomed by the one-third scale model of the world's only successful supersonic airliner.

The site - a roundabout at the entrance to the tunnel leading to the central airport area - has just been acquired by BA's Dubai-based rival Emirates, which is expected to install a model of the Airbus A380 superjumbo. But the vote also showed that the A380 has a long way to go before it captures the imagination of the travelling public in the same way as Concorde. The option of an A380 in Singapore Airlines colours gained just 7% of the votes and the Emirates A380 fared only slightly better with 11%, closely behind the British Airways Boeing 747 with 12% of the poll.

Concorde began flying scheduled flights in 1976 and over the years became synonymous with luxurious travel and glamorous living. But, problems began in 2000 when it crashed outside Paris killing 100 people. The following year after the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 passenger numbers dropped, hitting Concorde hard. Concorde was retired from service in October 2003.

The Airbus A380 is the world's largest passenger plane and Singapore Airlines and Emirates are among its first customers.

Flight's Group Editor Kieran Daly said: "Concorde seems to have an unassailable place in the affections of the aviation community. In 2007 I think it's time to move on from the Heathrow model, but the A380 has a lot of catching up to do in terms of popularity."

The poll ran on www.flightglobal.com, the world's leading aviation media website, attracting a wide range of aviation professionals and enthusiasts. The survey ran from 9-16th March and attracted 3,700 responses.

Notes to Editors

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    Contacts

    Kieran Daly
    Group Editor
    Flight
    Tel: +44-(0)20-8652-3837
    Email:kieran.daly@flightglobal.com