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CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

Concorde Resumes Passenger Flights

Aired November 7, 2001 - 04:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PETER HUMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Debris that may be on the runway. It's believed the crash last year was caused by a small piece of metal which punctured one of the tires of that Concorde which set off a catastrophic chain of events that led to that crash.

Now since that time, the plane did fairly soon after that crash lose its Certificate of Airworthiness. And both Air France and British Airways have spent millions of dollars on reinforcing the wheels. There's a new Michelin tire.

And also the fuel tanks onboard -- in the wings of the Concorde which are now being lined with Kevlar which is a material that's used, amongst other things, in bulletproof vests and Formula One racing cars. So all the various possible steps were taken. The Certificate of Airworthiness was restored. And this, in many ways, is a big day for Air France and later on today, British Airways, who will also be flying.

And as I mentioned earlier, the flight a few minutes behind schedule, but nevertheless, as I look across, I can see that it is moving up into more or less into position on one of the runways. It's actually the north -- actually on the north runway getting into position there -- Anand.

ANAND NAIDOO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Peter.

Now let's go to London.

We can see the Concorde there just about to take off from Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Let's go to London where CNN's Richard Quest is about to board a flight which is going to leave London for New York.

Richard, are you there?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed I am, Anand.

Yes, I'm in the Concorde Lounge at Heathrow Airport where British Airways, which is making much more of a to-do and fanfare about the return of Concorde then, for example, Air France. A hundred of the great and the good from international business, including leading bankers from top Wall Street and London banks, celebrities like the pop star Sting have been -- have been invited onboard along with large numbers of the press are waiting to board our Concorde which will take us to New York.

NAIDOO: Now, Richard, presumably you...

OK, let's go to Peter Humi. Here's Concorde taking off from Charles De Gaulle in Paris -- Peter.

HUMI: That -- that's right. There it goes. It's actually taken off just a few seconds ago. You can see some of the moisture coming off the -- off the wings there and the incredible roar of those supersonic jets. Of course the plane not yet at supersonic speed -- at supersonic speed, I should say. That will happen in a short while as it heads west -- first north and then west across the Atlantic. There it goes, disappearing into the low clouds and now out of sight.

So first commercial flight. Some applause I can hear in the background from some of the plane spotters. First commercial flight, 92 passengers onboard, 9 crew members and a dog, by the way. One of the passengers brought their little dog with them on this first commercial flight in almost 16 months. Everything seems to have gone very smoothly there.

And, Anand, in just about four hours, in fact less than four hours from now, that plane, Air France Flight 002, known as Fox Bravo from its markings, will be landing at New York's JFK Airport.

Back to you.

NAIDOO: Thank you. Peter Humi there in Paris.

Now let's return to Richard Quest, he's at the Concorde Lounge at Heathrow Airport in London.

Richard, I was going to say, presumably you didn't buy your ticket on the Web for this flight.

QUEST: No, indeed.

But I'm just trying to catch the Chief Executive Rod Eddington.

Rod Eddington, we're live on CNN International at the moment. Rod Eddington, chief executive of British Airways. Why is it -- (INAUDIBLE) Concorde has now just taken off. It's come into the air. We've reported that live. Why is it important that these Concordes are back in service, Mr. Eddington?

ROD EDDINGTON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, BRITISH AIRWAYS: We would never have got Concorde back in the air here in the U.K. if we hadn't worked closely with our friends and counterparts in Air France. This really is a joint effort, an effort between the French and British governments and between Air France and British Airways. We worked together. We'll arrive in New York together.

QUEST: Why is it important that Concorde does return back to commercial aviation?

EDDINGTON: It changes the way people who work in London, Paris and New York run their working days. It's for them, it's a time machine, and it's important to have it back in the air so they can use it in the commercial sense.

QUEST: Rod Eddington, chief executive of British Airways, there commenting on the departure of the Air France Concorde and making the point that between Paris, London and New York is, of course, the fastest way across the Atlantic.

I'm in the departure lounge now, we're about to board our British Airways 001. We will cross the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound. A journey that normally takes around 7.5 to 8 hours, we will do in roughly 3 hours, 20 minutes. We will be in New York before we've left. Amongst the celebrities and guests, leading bankers from both London and New York and, of course, people like Sting who have come along for the ride -- Anand.

NAIDOO: All right, thank you. Richard Quest there from the Concorde Lounge at London's Heathrow Airport.

And those pictures you just saw there were taped just a few minutes ago of the first commercial flight taking off from Charles De Gaulle Airport. That's the first commercial Concorde flight after the accident 15 months ago from Charles De Gaulle Airport to New York. That flight lasting some 3 hours and 55 minutes.

That's our coverage at the moment. I'm Anand Naidoo at CNN Center.

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