BBC News Online: UK

Concorde passenger flights resume

Concorde is restarting commercial flights

The supersonic aircraft has been through a complete refit, with a series of safety modifications to gain its certificate of airworthiness after being grounded for 15 months.

Both British Airways (BA) and Air France are operating flights to New York on Wednesday, although BA will not relaunch fare-paying passenger flights until Friday.

New York's Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who will welcome Concorde's return to his home city, said: "New York has been home to Concorde for more than 20 years and it is with great pride that we welcome this symbol of European and American commerce back to New York."

The first Concorde to arrive in the US will be an Air France plane, carrying fare-paying passengers and leaving Paris at 0930GMT.

The BA flight, leaving at 1030GMT, will carry business leaders, the aviation industry and the media.

Flight schedules

BA will initially operate a six-times-a-week London to New York service, with weekly Heathrow to Barbados flights beginning in December.

Mr Eddington said: "British business leaders have been invited on this first flight as a thank you for their support for Concorde over the years and to reaffirm our commitment to business travel between the UK and the US.

"We look forward to carrying our customers supersonically on our flagship plane for many years to come."

BA's chief Concorde pilot, Mike Bannister, will be the commander on Wednesday's London to New York flight.

He will take the aircraft to heights of almost 60,000ft and speeds of up to 1,350mph in a trip that is likely to take just three hours 20 minutes.