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Security tightened as Concorde returns.

Following a £50 million refit, the world's most famous passenger aircraft is set to return.  After an absence of nearly fourteen months, Concorde is due to resume commercial flights later this month.

The plane had been grounded following the crash last year in Paris in which 113 people perished.  The fuel tanks have now been armour plated and the tyres have been reinforced, in order to prevent a repeat of last year's tragedy in which a burst tyre pierced the fuel tanks.  However, the biggest
change can be found in the interior.

Out go the drab grey finishes, heavy food, cramped seats and old fashioned bathrooms.  To be replaced by inky blue cradle seats, bright lights that ripple through the cabin when the jet breaks the sound barrier, light modern cuisine, cashmere covered pillows and "spa-like" bathrooms.

BA worked on the makeover with design guru Sir Terence Conran and London-based firm Factory Design.  Concorde however were not alone in getting a facelift this week.  Both the BA and Virgin fleets are to be modified in the wake of the terrorist attacks of last month.

The cockpits on the BA and Virgin flights will now be sealed from the rest of the plane by two sets of secure doors.  Pilots will be protected from would-be hijackers by bullet, heat and shock proof doors.

Virgin Atlantic will be the first British carrier to implement the modifications on the newly renamed "Spirit of New York" which was used to carry British recovery teams to New York.

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