Virgin to bid £5mn for Concorde, say papers

Virgin Atlantic Airways will make a last-ditch attempt this week to buy British Airways Plc’s five remaining Concorde aircraft, which are due to go out of service in October, several newspapers said on Sunday. Virgin Chairman Richard Branson is willing to pay £5 million ($8.4 million), up from a previous offer of just £1 for each of the ageing supersonic jets, the newspapers said. If he is still snubbed, Branson will ask British Airways (BA) to join him in forming a charitable trust that would keep at least two of the supersonic planes flying, they added. The newspapers said British Airways thinks Concorde will soon be unfit for travel.