Concorde makes its comeback

Ground staff move Concorde from the maintenance hangar to Terminal Four at London's Heathrow Airport on Wednesday

PARIS, France -- Concorde has made a long-awaited comeback to commercial service with fare-paying passengers boarding one of three flights from Europe to the United States.

The world's only supersonic jetliner returned to the skies on Wednesday in what provided a rare glimmer of optimism for an airline industry facing one of the worst slumps in its history.

Revamped to address safety concerns, an Air France Concorde, with 71 passengers aboard, took off from Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris at 10.47 a.m. (0947 GMT) for the flight to New York and made a safe landing at around 1315 GMT.

To show their confidence, French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot and Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta were aboard the passenger flight -- the first since the July 25, 2000, crash that killed 113 people outside Paris.

"This is the greatest tribute we can pay to the 113 people who lost their lives, and to whom I dedicate this flight," Spinetta said before the takeoff.

VIDEO CNN's Richard Quest rides along as the Concorde again takes flight (November 7) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Concorde leaves Paris without incident (November 7) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES Eyewitness: Champagne -- and plastic cutlery    RESOURCES In-depth: Concorde  A supersonic return   AUDIO CNN's Richard Quest: Cruising at 55,000 feet 1.5MB / 184 sec WAV sound British Airways CEO Rod Eddington talks to CNN's Richard Quest 1MB / 122 sec WAV sound

The flight followed months of redesigning and test flights following the crash, with the jet's flight-path changed as it soared out of Paris so that it avoided the town of Gonesse, where the Air France jet crashed.

An invitation-only British Airways flight left London for New York an hour later with a VIP passenger list including rock star Sting. BA is to resume fare-paying services on Friday.

In a third Concorde flight on Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair took the plane to Washington to meet U.S. President George Bush.

There was tight security as passengers checked in for the Paris-New York flight, with armed police patrolling the check-in area and fire trucks standing by on the runway.

One passenger was perfume company founder Jean-Paul Guerlain, a regular Concorde passenger before the crash.

"I swore after the crash that I would fly again on the first flight," he said. "It's the most wonderful plane. I never lost confidence, and I have no fear."

Another passenger, Yvonne Rollim, 67, called the flight "a double tribute" -- to the Concorde and to New York, following the World Trade Center attack. "We're paying homage to those who died on Sept. 11," she said.

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani met the plane at John F. Kennedy International airport in New York.

At a news conference with airline officials, Giuliani praised the Concorde and said the freedom and mobility that allows for air transportation "in large part defines" American civilisation.

"Air transportation is vitally important to our economy," Giuliani said. "It's vitally important to our freedom."

The new Concorde has been fitted with fuel-tank liners of bulletproof Kevlar, a flameproof reinforced undercarriage and newly designed, extra-resistant radial tires.

"One of the icons of the civil aviation industry is returning," Chris Yates, aviation safety editor at Jane's Transport in London told Reuters. "It's the shot in the arm that the industry needs."

Flying above turbulence at twice the speed of sound, the delta-winged aircraft crosses the Atlantic in about three and a half hours -- half the flying time of conventional jets.

A roundtrip Paris-New York ticket costs $7,300, while a London-New York roundtrip runs at $10,000.

"It's all about time," said Eric Pelletier, vice president for Booz Allen Hamilton in Paris, who has flown the Concorde 40 times and once travelled Paris-New York roundtrip in one day to sign a contract. "It's not something you do because it's enjoyable." Air France and British Airways say they are confident the 100-seat planes can be filled despite the recent fall in trans-Atlantic travel since the terror attacks on the U.S. British Airways says it has already sold 7,000 seats.

Air France will run five round-trip flights per week and British Airways will run six, about half the previous schedule.

There is a touch of emotion about the way the resumption of flights is seen by Concorde's creators.

"If the story of the Concorde had finished with the accident of July 25, we would have all been left with a very bitter taste in our mouths," Henri Perrier, chief engineer on the aircraft's first test flight in 1969, told Reuters.

Perrier, 72, came out of retirement to join a French-British team of investigators and technicians working on Concorde after the crash near Paris.

"Nothing we knew would ever have led us to believe that such a catastrophe could happen," Perrier said.

A report on the cause of the crash is expected next year. Officials say they believe a metal strip on the runway ruptured a tyre and sent debris hurtling toward a fuel tank, triggering a fire and a fuel leak. The metal strip is believed to have come from another jet.

New gourmet menus have been introduced on the Concordes, while British Airways is investing $20 million to redecorate cabin interiors and Concorde lounges.

On Air France, fresh lobster and petits fours will be served -- but those sampling the food will no longer do so with fine silver cutlery. That has been swapped for plastic knives and forks following the September 11 attacks.