LONDON: For Concorde it will be the final voyage. And the slowest. And, to the relief of those who opposed the supersonic flights, the most ecologically sound.

In an operation officials tried to keep secret, the retired airliner known as G-BOAA - the first to undertake commercial flight with British Airways - is to sail down the River Thames on a barge as part of its journey to a final resting place in the Museum of Flight in Edinburgh, Scotland.

It will have already have been partly dismantled at Heathrow airport, London. Engineers are expected to remove the tail section and part of the wings to fit beneath London's bridges, but not the trademark nose cone.

The fuselage is due to be transported from Heathrow by road to join the new seagoing and inland waterway barge Terra Marique on the river on April 4. Later that day it will be towed to an overnight anchorage. Then it will be towed down the river for a photo opportunity outside the Houses of Parliament on the morning of April 6.

That afternoon it will be carried past landmarks such as the London Eye, Tower Bridge and the Thames Barrier. At Gravesend, it will have a brief stop before embarking on the remainder of the journey around the east coast of England to Scotland.

Once there, G-BOAA will travel overland to a new hangar at East Fortune airfield. The entire journey should take a week. Thousands of Concorde enthusiasts are expected to line the Thames to witness the trip. -Dawn/The Guardian News Service.