Concorde to retire by end 2003 Concorde has been ravaged by safety problems British Airways will confirm on Thursday that it is retiring its supersonic Concorde service, the BBC has learned. Passenger numbers have never recovered since the crash near Paris in 2000 and the aircraft no longer makes a profit. Concorde is expected to cease flying in the autumn, probably when BA's summer timetable ends on the last weekend of October, BBC transport correspondent Simon Montague said. Air France has made no comment on whether it is close to pulling its Concorde service, after reports it would retire the service by 2007. Concorde has been blighted by a rash of problems. Three years ago 113 people were killed in the Paris crash. Engine failure At the end of last year it emerged engine failure forced one New York-bound plane to turn back to London and another flight was forced to cut its speed when cracks appeared in a window. In January this year, an Air France Concorde covering the Paris to New York route was forced to return to Charles de Gaul airport when the plane's nose cone was unable to move into position for supersonic speed. Past incidents 20 February: Emergency landing after engine problems 12 January: Nose cone malfunctions 27 Nov 02: Part of tail rudder falls off 6 Nov 02: Engine fails, sparking panic 3 Nov 02: Plane turns round after engine failure 30 Oct 02: Speed cut after window cracks spotted July 02: Turnaround after engine power surge April 02: Engine failure causes mid-air 'bang' March 02: Take-off abandoned after computer glitch Nov 01: Flight aborted over engine reheats In November 2002, part of the rudder on a British Airways Concorde fell off as the plane was flying between London and New York. And earlier that month passengers flying on an Air France Concorde had a scare as the pilot was forced to make the plane rapidly descend 8,000 metres (27,000 feet) after one of its jet engines failed. An investigation concluded that the July 2000 disaster happened after a piece of metal lying on the runway burst one of plane's tyres. Currently, BA's Concordes are certified to fly until 2009. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and the Civil Aviation Authority both say Concorde remains safe to fly. Both Air France and BA Concorde services have been badly affected in recent months by the American economic downturn and the Iraqi conflict. The plane, born out a joint Anglo-French project, and developed by engineers at Filton, near Bristol, operates daily out of London Heathrow and Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport to North America. It cruises at around 1350 mph at an altitude of up to 60,000ft (11 miles) meaning a crossing from Europe to New York takes less than three and a half hours. Roger EWROPS