British Airways replaced Concorde with a luxury Airbus A318 plane with all business class seats
- The luxury Airbus 318 plane replaced the Concorde for the transatlantic flight
- It came in a two-plus-two layout and could carry 32 passengers
- The plane only featured first-class seats
Published on Apr 07, 2024 at 9:27 AM (UTC+4)
by Nalin Rawat
Last updated on Apr 08, 2024 at 7:34 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Siddharth Dudeja
After the retirement of Concorde, British Airways replaced the supersonic plane with a luxury Airbus A318 plane.
The legendary three-hour trip from London to New York was replaced with a somewhat less exciting alternative.
However, it did come with its perks, as the customers got pampered with first-class luxury treatment.
The Concorde was retired in November 2003 after many countries banned commercial supersonic planes from flying over them.
The plane also had a lot of economic issues that played a major part in its retirement.
To recapture some of that magic, British Airways offered a luxury Airbus A318 first-class flight with the same BA1 to BA4 flight numbers as the Concorde.
Moreover, Airbus fitted out the aircraft entirely with first-class seats.
Well, nobody is a VIP if everyone is a VIP.
Of course, it still doesn’t hold a candle to the world’s ‘most exclusive’ first-class seat, but it was pretty good.
The luxury Airbus A318 flight didn’t run from Heathrow Airport like the Concorde — instead, it ran from London City Airport.
Where the Concorde took passengers from London to New York in just three hours, the Airbus A318 didn’t quite manage that.
Due to the take-off restrictions at London City Airport, the Airbus A318 was not able to take off with a full tank of fuel.
However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Passengers were able to go through customs at Shannon Airport, where the plane had to refuel.
Sadly, it still didn’t match the amazing feeling of flying in a Concorde at supersonic speeds.
The aircraft had a two-plus-two layout and could carry 32 passengers at a time.
However, British Airways only ran the luxury Airbus A318 service from 2009 until 2020.
Unfortunately, the service didn’t appeal to a lot of people, as the seats were quite expensive.
We might see a return of a service like Concorde in the not-too-distant future, as Airbus is reportedly working on its own supersonic aircraft.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
Nalin started his career by working with various national newspapers in India. He has also worked as a writer/editor for many popular websites, while still pursuing his journalism and mass communication degree. Working as a digital nomad has allowed him to inform and educate through his work. When he is not writing, you can find him playing video games or travelling the mountains on his bike.
