
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 10, 1994                   TAG: 9411100072
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHANTILLY                                 LENGTH: Short

CONCORDE MAKES FINAL FLIGHT FROM DULLES

Like most Concorde flights from Dulles International Airport recently, there were more seats empty than occupied as the supersonic airplane made its final lift-off from Virginia.

Only 37 people were on board at 10:12 a.m. Tuesday, some of them British Airways employees and family members, as British Airways Flight 188 took to the skies. A handful of gawkers watched from the airport's observation deck, but there were no speeches .

The 100-passenger aircraft had shuttled the rich and famous across the Atlantic in less than four hours for 18 years.But in the past few years, Concorde flights between Washington and London have been running at less than half-capacity.

Airline officials attribute much of the drop in passengers to more stringent travel policies at several large Washington organizations that send employees overseas frequently. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank recently issued directives to executives to stop flying the Concorde or first class. And many diplomats, also facing financial constraints, have been told to stay off the Concorde.

``The conspicuous consumption days of the '80s are over,'' said Capt. David C. Rowland, general manager of the Concorde Fleet.

-Associated Press

by CNB