British Airways is to resume Aerospatiale/British Aerospace Concorde services between London and New York in September, with Air France aiming to follow with Paris-New York flights a month later.
The confirmation of the service resumption target date follows successful flight tests by a modified BA Concorde as ground testing of airframe and engines draws to a close.
The Concorde Working Group, which consists of representatives from the UK and French Governments and civil aviation authorities, says that "intensive work is planned between the manufacturers and the regulatory authorities to finalise conclusions about the tests, and the manufacturers are committed to completing the submission of their certification dossiers by 15 August".
Following this application for the return of Concorde's certificate of airworthiness, suspended a year ago after an Air France Concorde crashed in Paris, the UK CAA and French DGAC will have to process the modification package and supporting data. Both authorities are working closely to define the conditions under which certificates can be restored with the aim of a simultaneous issue of the necessary airworthiness directives.
The UK CAA says it cannot comment on how long the process will take until it is in receipt of the dossiers, but the working group says BA aims to re-introduce commercial Concorde flights in September and Air France will follow suit in October.
Meanwhile, a second interim report released by France's Bureau Enquetes-Accidents (BEA) into the 25 July 2000 crash says that almost all of the causes have been analysed and understood.
It has now been established that the undercarriage retraction problems arose from difficulties with the left main landing gear door, says the BEA, which has also carried out an intensive reproduction and explanation of aural warnings recorded. Studies are continuing into the rupture of fuel tank number 5 as recent firing tests to replicate the event have not been conclusive.
Source: Flight International
