The 70s is the dawn of supersonic flights, thanks to Concorde. For over 30 years, the Concorde has held the title for being the fastest commercial plane to ever fly. With the Concorde, it was possible to fly from New York to London in less than five hours. Normally, this would take 10 hours or so flying any other aircraft.
Unfortunately, Concorde's operation was put on halt. The decision was brought about because of its crash back in 2000 upon take off. Many onlookers have seen the Concorde on fire before it crashed, killing everyone onboard. Since then, the Concorde never flew again.
However, it may come as good news to many that Concorde is rumored to be flying again. According to BBC, Club Concorde, which is made up of former captains, charterers and aviation fans reported that they have raised about $150 million in reserve for the "return to flight" plan.
The Concorde, which can fly twice the speed of sound last flew in 2003. Currently, the negotiation is underway to try to purchase of lease two aircraft. Club Concorde President Paul James said they were hoping to source both the display and flight jets from France.
The Club Concorde President said that it is overwhelming because of the support and enthusiasm of people on their plan to invest. The support shows how much people still admire the Concorde and see it flying again.
After major restorations, the Concorde will be seen on airshows, for private events and for chartered flights. Mr. James is confident that a plane would be secured and hoped flights would start on 2019. This is just in time for Concorde's 50th anniversary of its first flight.
#Concorde's final flight was #OTD 2003 - Concorde G-BOAF flew over #Bristol & landed at #Filton https://t.co/VRQHYVUq5X #supersonic ✈️ pic.twitter.com/HmwQaJnlAj
— The History Press (@TheHistoryPress) November 26, 2016
As added by CNN, there is a steady demand for Concorde to be back. It is reported that given the Concorde gets proper restoration, there should be no problem getting it passed by the regulators.
It is known that aside from the crash of Air France in the early 2000's, it was collectively decided to take it out of the sky for practical reasons. The Concorde is a gas guzzler. It needs a good amount of jet fuel to sustain its supersonic capabilities. The early 2000's also encountered a global spike in jet fuel prices.
There is no official word yet if Concorde is indeed going to be back in the skies by 2019. However, many are excited and looking forward that it does.
