Sydney July 16: British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic would fly the needle-nosed Concorde jet on its first flight to Australia if British Airways would allow him to buy its supersonic fleet. But the chances of Branson jetting into Sydney from London aboard Concorde remain slim, after arch rival BA shunned a five million pound ($8 million) offer to buy the five planes which will be retired from service later this year.

"We're doing everything we can to embarrass BA into handing them over to us," Branson told reporters in London.

"If we succeed, almost definitely the inaugural flight (to Australia), if nothing else, will be on a Concorde," he said, according to Australian Associated Press on Wednesday.
Long the epitome of luxury travel, demand has slowed and costs mounted for Concorde since an Air France Concorde crashed outside of Paris in July 2000, killing 113 people. Bureau Report