Branson denied Concorde information

British Airways rejected renewed demands from Sir Richard Branson yesterday for access to financial information about Concorde so he could decide whether to keep the supersonic aircraft in service when BA retires its fleet this October.

BA also denied a claim by the Virgin Atlantic chairman that it had offered to sell one of its seven Concordes to a well-known British composer for a "nominal fee" provided it was not used in competition.

Sir Richard, who has offered to buy Concorde from BA for the £1 it paid for the fleet, wrote yesterday to the BA chairman Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge saying he found the airline's attitude "totally baffling" and asking for a copy of the latest audited financial statement it had provided to the Government.

"If BA wants to stop flying Concorde, that's its commercial decision. I have no problem with that," he said. "But in the circumstances, why should that stop someone else from having a go at keeping this beautiful aircraft in the air? With Virgin Atlantic's lower costs and marketing flair there must be a good chance we could make a go of it, even if BA can't."

Lord Marshall responded by saying that an in-depth review of Concorde, carried out with its manufacturer, Airbus, had concluded there was "no realistic prospect" of continuing services beyond this October "whether by us or any other operator". He also maintained that BA had paid the manufacturers £155m for Concorde and had invested a further £1bn in the service since 1976.

Lord Marshall added that the 1980 agreement whereby it provided the Government with an annual audited statement of Concorde's operations had ended in 1984 with the payment of £16.5m for the remaining spares inventory.