Concorde

The chance Concorde offers

Concorde offers the possibility j of a dominating lead in civil aviation for Britain and British Airways, according to the airline’s annual report.

And it adds: “It is a lead we are ready and eager to grasp on behalf \ of Britain.

“We believe the advancement of I Concorde can be an essential step forward in attaining the target we have set ourselves in British Air- ways—that of being a leader in world civil aviation. We welcome the professional challenge of this great new development.”

The report says that planning has proceeded towards the intro duction of Concorde services in early 1976.

“The uncertainties that underlie the planning and evaluation of British Airways deployment of Concorde on the routes available to us are numerous,’” it says.

“There are undoubtedly advan tages to the customers in terms of speed and time savings, but there are problems created by the narrow tolerance in performance, noise characteristics and other features.”

The report also points out that there are major uncertainties created by inter-governmental agreements on route permits and landing rights.

The range of financial results now expected from the airline’s calculation is wide and involves risks beyond the margins of com mercial prudence that the airline is entitled to adopt without some special arrangements for under writing, it says.

It adds: “For this reason we welcomed the undertaking given by the Government on May 25 that the Government would be prepared to review the Board’s financial position at the appropriate [ time in the light of the outcome of our operations and see that, if j necessary, steps are taken to ensure that we maintain a sound financial performance.”’