§ Mr. Roperasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether further development expenditure beyond that so far announced will be necessary to get the 16 Concordes so far authorised into service; and, if so, what will be the additional costs to the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. BennThe estimate given to the House last June of £1,065 million covers the development work necessary to enable Concorde to obtain a certificate of airworthiness for passenger services. This estimate is currently being reviewed, and I shall inform the House of a revised estimate as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Roperasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether it is expected that there will be any loss in the production of the 16 Concordes whose production has so far been authorised; and, if so, what that loss is expected to be.
§ Mr. BennAs is general practice in aircraft projects, the selling price is related to costs averaged over a substantial number of aircraft, and consequently full production costs of Concorde could not be recovered over the first production batch. The shortfall on the 16 aircraft under manufacture will depend on the selling price and on production costs in both the United Kingdom and France.
§ Mr. Roperasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) what consultations have taken place with the French Government about the production of Concorde at a slower tempo;
(2) what consultations have taken place with the French Government about a longer-range Concorde.
§ Mr. BennBritish and French officials have been engaged in a joint analysis of proposals submitted by the manufacturers for possible future improvements to Concorde and for the future production programme. I shall inform the House of the position as soon as I can.