London - Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson vowed Wednesday to keep trying to get hold of Concorde, after the British government said it would not help him to buy and fly the supersonic jets.
British Airways, in a decision with fellow Concorde operator Air France, has said it would be taking the sleek but aging and money-losing aircraft out of service from October without selling them to any other carrier.
Branson, who thinks they have another 25 years' flying life in them, wants to acquire at least some of the Concordes, repaint them in Virgin Atlantic colors, then fly them with first- and second-class passenger cabins.
In a phone call and letter Tuesday, Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said it was "not for the government to make a decision ... on the disposal of the aircraft concerned."
But in remarks Wednesday, Branson said it would be a "scandal" if Concorde - conceived in the 1960s and 1970s with public funds - was axed when there was an airline willing to keep operating them.
"We have started to mount a campaign. We will mount the strongest campaign we can for the next few months," he said, adding that he was ready to appeal directly to Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"Since the country paid for it in the first place, the taxpayer paid for it, then Tony Blair could have a word with British Airways," he said. - Sapa-AFP