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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Branson Orginally offered �1 per plane to BA as thats what they cost them in the first place as the development was paid by UK and French Tax Payers. He then upped the offer to �1 Million per plan (5 in all) but BA have refused and given no convincing answer. Cant find any more recent reference's to it past August when Branson was launching a campaing after our wonderfull government failed to support him, but would guess BA are unwilling to sell. Its a sad state of affairs.
So it's all a load of bullsh!t all round then.....the aircraft are more than viable as they weren't heavily used and there are many civil machines in use before them that are still used daily....as for the economics of it then why not lease them to another carrier? Load of tosh all round....Does anyone know if the Tupolev TU144 is still in service anywhere in the world then seeing as it was the first supersonic passenger aircraft?
I do think Richard Branson would make Concorde a profitable success again and as for it being BAs flagship for the last 27 yrs it would leave them with egg on there faces. More about RB bid here. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3005705.stm
Without wishing to use the site as a forum are Mr Bransons entirely clear? He wanted the Lottery,bought a real train set, sells motorbikes out of the crate,offers credit, owns an ISP, sells pensions,drinks,books and holidays.He knew that Concorde would never be sold to him or anyone else but hey it's free publicity!
It's really very simple to make them profitable: invest to redesign the engines from their current 1950s technology to a 21st century design, making them quieter, more eco-friendly and... more efficient. As a result the range will increase and make all important Tokyo-LA transpacific route a possibility. Japanese businesses will certainly have no problem parting with �10,000 a ticket to get to LA in a few hours.