Passing of an era - Concorde

[Guest M. McRae]

Last Concorde flight lands

Air France's streamlined white Concorde swooped into a Paris airport on its final commercial flight home, an emotional end to years of supersonic travel between New York and Paris.

The plane touched down at Charles de Gaulle Airport at 5.44 pm local time (1544 GMT) after cruising over the Atlantic Ocean at twice the speed of sound. Hundreds of Concorde fans gathered to watch.

The plane and the rest of the Air France Concorde aircraft will be retired -- one to an exhibit at Charles de Gaulle Airport and the other four to museums.

"It's the end of an era in aviation," said Dominique Bussereau, France's transport secretary, before the flight took off from John F Kennedy International Airport.

Three water trucks sprayed red, white and blue water in an arc in front of the plane as it departed for its three-and-a-half hour flight. Sixty-eight passengers were aboard -- including a woman who bought a seat for her dog, Romeo, as she does every month.

British Airways, the only other airline that flies the Concorde, plans to retire its fleet at the end of October. Both companies say they can no longer afford the plane's costly maintenance.

Before take-off, many of the passengers said they were sad to see the end of the Concorde, which has served executives and celebrities since 1976.

Christophe Mazel, the chief financial officer of Michelin Tyres in Thailand, said the Concorde gave passengers the chance to travel in a hi-tech aircraft but with a "very smooth environment".

"There's a lot of luxury," Mazel said. "You're eating the most beautiful food, drinking the most beautiful wine. You can't compare it even to first class."

The Concorde's retirement comes after a July 25, 2000, accident over Gonesse, France, that killed 113 people, including four on the ground. The aircraft was taken out of service until November 2001 and overhauled based on findings by investigators.

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