Airport Board Calls for Ban on Concorde Landings at Ontario

A commission that oversees the operation of Ontario International Airport has voted unanimously to prohibit the supersonic Concorde airliner from landing at the airport in San Bernardino County.

An Air France Concorde flew into Ontario on May 1 and a British Airways Concorde made a stop there on Sept. 21, 1986.

The action by the Board of Commissioners of the Los Angeles Department of Airports also must be approved by the Los Angeles City Council, department spokeswoman Virginia Black said Friday. Although the board oversees airports outside the city, all actions involving the Department of Airports must be approved by the City Council.

The Ontario City Council in a unanimous vote called upon the department to keep the Concorde out of Ontario, 35 miles east of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles City Council probably will not take up the issue until next month, Black said.

The Concorde makes regular flights to East Coast cities but is banned at most airports elsewhere in the United States, including Los Angeles International Airport, because its engines are considered too loud.

Air France has canceled two Concorde flights to Ontario that had been scheduled for August and September, but airline spokesman Ed Tourtellotte said it was unrelated to the board’s action.

“It is simply a change in routing and is not in any way unusual,” Tourtellotte said.