Commercial flights of the modified supersonic Concorde aircraft operated by Air France and British Airways are expected to resume November 7, an industry source said Monday.
"It's going to be November 7," the source told AFP.
Earlier this month, Air France executive director Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said Air France and British Airways had agreed to put their Concordes back into commercial service in the first half of November.
Originally it had been expected that BA would re-start commercial services in October, with Air France following a few weeks later.
The 12 existing Concordes, seven of which are operated by British Airways and five by Air France, were grounded following the crash of an Air France Concorde in July 2000 near Paris that killed 113 people.
Since then the aircraft's fuel tanks have been relined with kevlar to prevent leaks and the planes have been equipped with stronger tires designed by French firm Michelin.
As a result of the modifications the aircraft have received certificates of air-worthiness from French and British civil aviation authorities.
The accident last year occurred after a sharp metal strip on the runway at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport burst one of the plane's tires.
Fragments of flying debris ruptured a fuel tank, turning the jet into a fireball that crashed into a hotel just north of the airport – Paris, (AFP)
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