Re: Was it really only the maintenance costs?
The story I heard (no proof, sorry) was that after the crash, and the fixes to fuel tanks etc to make them stronger and more debris-resistent, the extra weight meant shorter range. Still enough for jfk-lhr, but no longer enough for jfk-cdg. As you can imagine, Air France would not be happy no longer being able to fly their premier route but BA still able to, So AF talked to the french governement who then had words with aerospatiale, who then suddenly decided it was uneconomic to continue providing spares, thus ending Concordes flying life.
And if this is true, then Richard Branson's offer to continue flying it was just a publicity stunt, as many of us suspected at the time.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
