18th March 2009

Concorde retires to new eco-home

One of the world's most iconic aircraft is in a new eco-friendly retirement home at Manchester Airport.

A new Concorde Visitor Centre, which will display the former British Airways flagship Concorde G-BOAC, is being opened at the Aviation Viewing Park.

The new building has biomass heating fuelled by willow grown on the airport site, a rain water harvesting system and solar panels.

The aircraft has been at Manchester airport since its final flight in 2003.

The new visitor centre also includes a corporate hospitality suite, an education centre for local schools and a glass-walled visitor restaurant alongside Concorde, with views of the runways.

Work began on the centre in December after delays when engineers discovered a colony of a protected species of newt.

They were moved to a new home and after a surveillance period the area was declared a newt-free zone.

Geoff Muirhead said the visitor centre is the first new building at the airport to comply with its plan of having carbon neutral operations by 2015.

Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, will open the new building.

"Manchester Airport was one of 60 high profile locations worldwide that originally bid to give a home to a retiring Concorde", he said.

"It gives me great pleasure to see the culmination of that bid in this magnificent new exhibition area and visitor centre."