You Might Still Be Able To Fly Transaero First Class (Even Though The Airline Doesn't Exist Anymore)

Transaero's planes were registered in Ireland with EI-xxx registrations. Their maintenance base was also in Ireland. That's how they managed to fly to the US, since the only Russian airline authorized to fly to the US is Aeroflot. Technically, therefore, Transaero was subject to EU (reputable) safety standards when it operated.

Hi Lucky. Great blog - thanks! Some brief input from a currently Russian based aviation geek: Rossiya is in fact not a newly founded company but in fact a subsidiary of Aeroflot that has been around since 1992 when communism collapsed. It's a St Petersburg based company and in fact the company also responsible for transportation of government officials. / Carl

@lucky. Your only 26 years old?

Not having flown the Concorde is a regret of mine too. I was 17 and had the opportunity to take British Airways JFK - LHR one way at a 90% discount . Also , a science class at my high school took a field trip to JFK and were allowed to walk through the Concorde.

You can keep the first class seat when you are assigned it had one for the flight from Vladivostok very good seat soft product could do with some work though!

I was a couple of years younger than you when they stopped flying the Concorde but I still vividly remember watching the last flight on the news. Journalists waited outside the airport for landing so as to record the (final) sonic boom.

A month or so ago I was taxiing at LHR and noticed a Concorde with BA livery parked on the tarmac. I still have no idea what it was doing there but I spent the first half hour of the flight privately freaking out in my seat.

I just didn't have the money to fly the Concorde when it was still flying. However, I've done the next best thing.

The Concorde used to have a flight between London and Barbados. Sitting on the beach and watching this beautiful bird fly the approach to Grantley Adams International was always something I looked forward to.

When Concorde stopped flying, one of the last remaining planes was brought to Barbados and parked there, as a sort of museum. The "Concorde Experience" at BGI is open to the public, and you get a tour of the plane, the flight deck, and can even walk around and kick the tires. BA comes in periodically to clean and check on the aircraft.

Definitely worth the money for an avgeek. http://www.barbadosconcorde.com/

@lady Carnavon von villy:

What an awesome use of language!!
Surprising anyone who partook of the "party favors" offered there didn't have multiple heart attacks.

I had the opportunity to fly BA 004 from JFK to LHR. Seated two rows behind Rupert Murdock ....I have a wonderful picture of his bald spot from behind. At that time passengers were permitted to visit the flight deck while underway...gone are those days....the cockpit resembled a bomber with the flight engineer on the right facing a great number of gauges and switches. I could 'see' the heat radiating from the nose as if updating water rivulets, wavering past the forward Windows.
Upon standing, one could feel the force of speed at 1,500 MPH as shown on the bulkhead monitor.
Lastly, while looking up at the black void thought the tiny Windows, I remarked, "how nice to have heated the fuselage walls for my comfort"...
It actually, I learned upon inquiry, was the friction of passing thru the air at such a high rate of speed, that 'warmed' the fuselage....
It was and still is, a memorable lifetime 'bucket list' achievement...

@Lucky. I'm sorry you missed it. I was collecting BA miles for a concord flight when the AF accident happened and BA announced that they would be retiring the Concorde. I paid an appalling sum of money (over $6K one way) for a LHR-JFK trip. Since it was after they'd announced the end of the flights it was a madhouse. Completely packed plane full of people just like me who wanted to fly before it retired. Was it worth $6K? Probably not. Do I have any regrets? Absolutely not. So glad to have had the experience. And Supersonic will be back one of these days Lucky and you'll get your chance. It is amazing. Next best thing to going to space!

I was fortunate enough to fly it on a round trip with my father between LHR and JFK. One of the greatest aviation achievements in my life. I remember seeing two of these birds, since they had a second Concorde on standby in case there were any glitches with the scheduled bird. This made for some spectacular photographs from the lounge where everyone salivated as they waited - especially for a 12 year old with dreams of being an aviation engineer.

@SC The concorde is always at Heathrow - it's a display.

Just FYI - Rossiya is not new airline but rather was formed after the fall of SU as Pulkovo (based in St. Petersburg), than got renamed to Rossiya and then was transfered to Aeroflot. I believe Aeroflot uses brand to fly out of other Moscow airports but Sheremetyevo