London, Oct 24: The last fare-paying passengers on British Airways' Concorde took off for New York yesterday, a day before scheduled supersonic service ends for good. Both yesterday's London-New York flight and today's final trans-Atlantic return are expected to be full, but today's passengers will all be invited guests of the airline, including actress Joan Collins and supersonic frequent flyer Sir David Frost. Thousands of planespotters are expected to gather near Heathrow Airport on Friday to watch the near-simultaneous landing of the New York flight and two other Concordes _ one carrying competition winners from Edinburgh and the other taking guests on a circular flight from Heathrow over the Bay of Biscay. With that, the era of supersonic commercial flight will be over, at least for now. British Airways chairman Lord Marshall said Concorde's final day would bring mixed emotions. ``Everyone has enormous pride in all that she has achieved, but there is inevitable sadness that we have to move on and say farewell,'' he said. ``The decision to retire Concorde was a tough one, but it is the right thing to do at the right time,'' he added.



British Airways' announcement last April that it was retiring its seven Concordes spurred an outpouring of affection for the sleek needle-nosed jet.



But airport authorities asked people not to travel to Heathrow today for the finale, fearing traffic gridlock in the area west of London.


Bureau Report