As British Airways announced the end of the age of supersonic travel with the mothballing of the Concorde fleet yesterday, BA staff in Bermuda wistfully recalled the times the world's most glamorous jets visited the Island.

Concorde was the most luxurious commercial aircraft ever designed, the jet of choice for rock and film stars, millionaires and captains of industry, which could fly from London to New York in three and a half hours.

The needle-nosed plane, which went into commercial service in 1976, epitomised elite trans-Atlantic air travel at twice the speed of sound, and it touched down in Bermuda around half a dozen times on one-off occasions.

British Airways and Air France, who jointly fly Concorde, said yesterday they were taking the flagship jets out of service. The last Air France Concorde will take off at the end of May, while BA's fleet will touch down for the last time at the end of October.

Concorde was treated like an airborne superstar, attracting crowds of onlookers wherever she landed.

The first time Concorde reached Bermuda was in the early 1980s when it touched down from Florida as part of fund-raiser for a Florida symphony orchestra.

And in 1986, BA flew top corporate clients from New York and Washington for lunch in Bermuda.

And around 100 super-rich travellers and celebrities came to Bermuda to celebrate New Year's Eve twice in 1993 as part of a gimmick which also saw them toast the event at Shannon, Ireland, hours earlier. The guests included the well-known television journalist Alan Wicker.

BA's Bermuda manager Philip Troake, who flew Concorde on several occasions, told The Royal Gazette yesterday that all BA staff will miss the supersonic jets.

"It is very sad because it has been a wonderful aircraft, the flagship of the British Airways fleet," he said. "It has served us well for 27 years, and if you are an air buff, albeit it is now old technology, it is a marvellous aircraft, and it will always hold a special place in the hearts of anyone who has worked for British Airways.

"I flew from New York to Bermuda in under an hour in 1986. Not many people can say that.

"You enjoy it best if you go trans-Atlantic and I did it both ways. If you go westbound, because of the five hour time delay, you arrive in the US before you leave, if you check your watch.

"And if you fly from the East Coast to Europe, the time difference is no more than a leisurely lunch. It was really attractive for the business traveller because there is absolutely no jetlag.

"This decision is not anything to do with the Gulf War. It is more the long-term trend in business travel and purely for commercial reasons.

"Certain business travellers don't want to be seen on Concorde because it is seen as a luxury and you can't rely on the film stars and the music industry."

Concorde has been doomed since the economy plummeted, with BA and Air France finding it hard to fill the 100 Concorde seats to make them viable.

And in the wake of corporate sleaze scandals, many chief executives are wary of travelling Concorde for fear of being seen as fat cats.

Concorde's fortunes took further heavy blows when an Air France jet crashed at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport in July, 2000, killing all 100 people onboard. The entire fleet of BA and Air France Concorde's were grounded for more than a year to reinforce their fuel tanks and improve tyres.

BA chief executive Rod Eddington said yesterday: "Concorde changed the way people travelled. With its going, we must lose some of the romance of aviation."

Concorde's financial woes: Business, Page 27