Concorde moved for £1.1m hangar

Work on the hangar will be completed in 2009 (pic: airport)

Manchester Airport's retired Concorde is being moved from her base to make way for a £1.1m visitor centre.

The aircraft has been sitting at the aviation viewing park since making a final flight to the city in 2003.

But now the 97 tonne aeroplane is being moved 17m (56ft) away while engineers build its new hangar.

An education centre for school tours, corporate hospitality and a restaurant will also be part of the development, which is due to open in July 2009.

Newt problem

Airport operations director Andrew Holl said: "I am delighted that plans are getting under way to re-home this important piece of aviation history.

"Concorde is very close to our hearts here at Manchester Airport and the thousands of visitors feel passionately about her care for the future which this new hangar will offer."

Preparatory work on the site was temporarily halted last month when engineers discovered a colony of newts, a protected species.

The amphibians were moved to a new home and after a surveillance period the area was declared a newt-free zone.

Construction work on the new hangar is to start in early spring, the airport said.