- Title: USA: CONCORDE LANDS FOR LAST TIME AT WASHINGTON'S DULLES AIRPORT.
- Date: 17th October 2003
- Summary: (W1)DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 14, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. CU/LV: CONTROL TOWER; AIRPORT TERMINAL (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. LV/PAN/CU/GV: CONCORDE LANDING; CLOSE UP OF CONCORDE ON RUNWAY; PEOPLE WATCHING; CONCORDE TAXIING ON RUNWAY (4 SHOTS) 1.33 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CONCORDE PASSENGER RITA L. WOODS FROM VIRGINIA SAYING: "It's always been my dream to fly the concorde, and when my son-in-law, who lives in Oregon, found out that the concorde was not flying anymore he called me and he said it's now or never, and I said it is now. And here I am. It was wonderful, I felt like a seven year old child on Christmas eve, it was absolutely positively amazing, and I would do it again tomorrow if I had 8,000 dollars." 2.08 4. GV: JOURNALISTS QUEUING TO GET ON CONCORDE 2.15 5. CU: EXTERIOR OF CONCORDE COCKPIT 2.21 6. GV/CU: VARIOUS INTERIOR OF COCKPIT (2 SHOTS) 2.29 7. BRITISH AIRWAYS SPOKESMAN JEFF ANGEL SEATED ON PLANE 2.33 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH AIRWAYS SPOKESMAN JEFF ANGEL SAYING: "It's the very last time that Concorde is ever going to land in Washington, Washington is a very important part of the British Airways network and system and it was the very first destination, actually, for Concorde some 27 years ago when it flew for British Airways." 2.49 9. GV: JOURNALISTS LEAVING INTERIOR OF PLANE 2.52 10. MCU: EXTERIOR OF COCKPIT AND POLICE CAR PARKED NEXT TO CONCORDE 2.59 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st November 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, VIRGINIA, USA
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAB34PERRLTQNCWOTQUAPYZ23SB
- Story Text: Concorde has landed for the last time at
Washington's Dulles airport 10 days before the plane is
decommissioned by British Airways.
Concorde ended 27 years of supersonic passenger
travel between London and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday
(October 14) as it touched down at Dulles International
Airport shortly after 1530 EDT (1930 GMT).
Tickets started at $8000 for the four hour flight at
more than twice the speed of sound and at over 60,000 feet
from London's Heathrow airport.
"I felt like a seven year old child on Christmas eve,
it was absolutely positively amazing, and I would do it
again tomorrow if I had 8,000 dollars," said Passenger Rita
L. Woods.
More than 2.5 million passengers have flown supersonically
on BA's Concorde since it entered commercial
service in 1976, according to BA's website.
British Airways originally began it's Concorde service
to the United States with London to Dulles service in May
of 1976, before switching the service to New York's JFK
airport the following year.
"It's the very last time that Concorde is ever going to
land in Washington," said British Airway's Jeff Angel, "and
it was the very first destination, actually for Concorde,
some 27 years ago when it flew for British Airways."
Concorde will make its last commercial flight on
October 24, between New York's JFK airport and London
Heathrow.
Air France, the only other operator, stopped flying
Concorde in May, after passenger traffic failed to recover
from a crash which killed 113 people three years ago.
The decision to retire the slender, needle-nosed jets
after over a quarter century of flight marks the end of an
era in civil aviation, when stretching the limits of
engineering and design know-how was a goal in itself.
The product of a supersonic adventure launched by
French President Charles de Gaulle and British Prime
Minister Harold MacMillan in 1962, the Concorde evolved
into a prestigious tool of the rich and famous, who paid
lofty sums to hurtle across the Atlantic at twice the speed
of sound.
The prestige Concorde brought its owners came at the
price of exorbitant operating costs, while in recent years
its glitzy image was overshadowed by worries over safety.
The costs associated with the fuel-guzzling jet had
become too onerous for the only two airlines that fly the
100-seat plane. Both carriers said falling revenue and
rising maintenance outlays were behind their decision to
retire the planes.
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