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IRVINE - Logistics services provider BAX Global helped ease an emotional adieu today for Air France's Concorde F-BVFA supersonic airliner as it recently entered US airspace on its final flight.

BAX cleared the way through customs for the sleek supersonic transportation (SST) aircraft's new home at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

The famous droop-nose aircraft arrived at Washington-area Dulles International Airport today. A ceremony at the airport, attended by Smithsonian officials, US and French  government officials and Air France chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta, marked the handover of the plane to the museum.

BAX, which manages US customs brokerage and logistics needs for Air France, was asked to handle all customs clearances required for the plane's final entry into the US. The F-BVFA was the first Concorde to join Air France's fleet in December, 1975.

The Concorde will be on permanent display at the Smithsonian's new companion facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located at Dulles International. The new Center is scheduled to open December 15.

In April, both Air France and British Airways, developers of the SST, announced they would stop flying the Concordes later this year. The F-BVFA first landed at Dulles International Airport on May 24, 1976, after a three-hour-45-minute flight from Paris.
 
It carried 92 passengers at a record-breaking cruising speed of 1,430 mph.

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