FRANCE: AIR FRANCE CONCORDE PLANE TAKES OFF FOR NEW YORK AS DRESS REHEARSAL BEFORE THE FIRST SCHEDULED FLIGHTS SINCE LAST YEARS CRASH
Record ID:
647616
FRANCE: AIR FRANCE CONCORDE PLANE TAKES OFF FOR NEW YORK AS DRESS REHEARSAL BEFORE THE FIRST SCHEDULED FLIGHTS SINCE LAST YEARS CRASH
- Title: FRANCE: AIR FRANCE CONCORDE PLANE TAKES OFF FOR NEW YORK AS DRESS REHEARSAL BEFORE THE FIRST SCHEDULED FLIGHTS SINCE LAST YEARS CRASH
- Date: 28th October 2001
- Summary: (W4) PARIS, FRANCE (29 OCTOBER 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF RUNWAY AT CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT 0.04 2. WIDE OF LUFTHANSA PLANE ON THE RUNWAY WITH CONCORDE TAXIING ALONG RUNWAY IN THE BACKGROUND 0.20 3. SLV BACK VIEW OF CONCORDE ON THE GROUND, PREPARING TO DEPART 0.26 4. SLV AIRPORT VEHICLE ON TARMAC 0.30 4. SLV PEOPLE WATCHING THROUGH FENCE 0.33 5. VARIOUS, OF AIR FRANCE CONCORDE TAKING OFF 0.59 (W4) GONESE, FRANCE (28 OCTOBER 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6. PAN OF EXTERIOR OF REBUILT HOTEL WHERE CONCORDE CRASHED IN 2000 (2 SHOTS) 1.07 7. PAN OF AIRCRAFT FLYING ABOVE HOTEL/ PAN DOWN TO HOTEL/ RESTAURANT SIGN 1.21 8. GV AIRCRAF FLYING OVER STREETS OF GONESE 1.28 9. SLV WOMAN WALKING ALONG STREET AND BEING STOPPED BY REPORTER 1.36 10. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(French) LOCAL GONESE WOMAN SAYING: (Asked for her reactions to news of Concorde restarting its flights) "(My reactions are) negative - like the reactions of most of the people on Gonese, I'd have thought. What more can I tell you - negative in every way - more noise, the risks, etc. But one can't discuss such a problem in two minutes. There you are. Anyway in any case - negative. It couldn't have been otherwise. Everything was decided in advance, I think." 2.06 11. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(French) LOCAL GONESE MAN SAYING: "I've lived here for 25 years. It doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me at all. It's about as noisy as that." (SOUND OF PLANE FLYING OVER). 2.20 12. GV AIRPLANE FLYING OVER STREET 2.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 12th November 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS AND GONESE, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA2UVB1ADISTNOJ15UL14OKOBI1
- Story Text: For the first time since last year's disaster an Air
France Supersonic Concorde has taken off from Paris bound for
New York on a dress-rehearsal for next week's resumption of
scheduled flights.
The droop-nosed airliner, long an icon of luxury
travel, left a foggy Charles de Gaulle airport at 10.43 a.m.
(0943 GMT) on Monday (29 October) for John F. Kennedy airport
with about 65 airline staff as passengers on board. They all
work for Air France and worked to help get the service back in
the air. They checked-in as if they were regular passengers
for the three hour 55 minute test flight across the Atlantic
at speeds of up to 2,200 kph (1,370 mph).
The plane will return to Paris on a similar run on Tuesday
(30 October).
Air France and British Airways suspended services after an
Air France Concorde charter burst into flames shortly after
taking off from Paris for New York on July 25 last year and
crashed to the ground killing 113 people.
Both operators announced last month that commercial
services would resume next week following safety modifications
that include lining fuel tanks with bullet-proof kevlar.
They call the return to service a show of solidarity with
New York following the September 11 destruction of the World
Trade Center and a display of confidence in air travel.
Traffic on transatlantic routes, among the most profitable for
airlines, has slumped by up to 30 percent since last month's
hijacked airliner attacks on the United States.
Air France will resume scheduled services five days a week
between Paris and New York on November 7. British Airways,
which completed its first round-trip test flight from London
to New York last Monday (22 October), will run an
invitation-only trip on November 7 and resume scheduled
flights six days a week from November 9.
Monday's Air France flight was designed largely as a dry
run for the plane's 11 crew and to simulate normal commercial
operations. The guinea-pig passengers were being treated to a
taste of what life is like for Concorde's big spenders with a
menu that includes caviar, foie gras, lobster and champagne.
Concorde's reputation for safety was shattered in last
July's crash, traced to a stray strip of titanium on the
runway which investigators say probably burst a tyre. Debris
from the tyre then punctured a fuel tank, triggering the fire.
All 109 people on board the airliner, chartered to carry
German tourists, and four on the ground were killed.
A hotel destroyed in the crash has been rebuilt and life
for the people of Gonese has returned to normal. One local
woman on hearing that Concorde was resuming flights said she
felt negative. She said, "in every way - more noise, the
risks, etc. But one can't discuss such a problem in two
minutes. There you are. Anyway in any case - negative. It
couldn't have been otherwise. Everything was decided in
advance, I think." But a local man was more upbeat saying,
"I've lived here for 25 years. It doesn't bother me. It
doesn't bother me at all."
Even before last year's crash, an average of 40 of the 100
seats on Air France Concorde scheduled flights were empty.
Industry analysts estimate that it was only through offering
charters that Air France squeezed a profit from the airliner.
Now, they say, the five remaining Concordes in the Air France
fleet will be enough only for scheduled services.
Air France and British Airways have been losing an
estimated $13.5 million between them by keeping their fleets
mothballed. Both airlines are offering promotional fares for
the relaunch, but the cheapest Air France round trip on
Concorde will still cost a traveller 6,600 euros ($5,900).
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