WITH less than a month to the mothballing of Filton's iconic Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, the final tickets to the attraction are being snapped up at a supersonic pace.

The final public tours of the aircraft take place on September 30, with the plane being mothballed by Airbus on October 10 for an unspecified time.

Andy Treweek, visitor centre manager at the Concorde At Filton attraction, who will be made redundant next month, said "things are now getting fraught" as Bristolians grapple to visit the plane while they still have the chance.

Mr Treweek said: "People have realised this might be their last chance to see the aircraft.

"The weekends are now completely booked up, but we're doing our best to slot people into the few remaining weekday spaces.

"The problem we're now having is that people are coming forward who have held gift voucher tickets – sometimes for years – expecting to be given a place.

"We're doing our best to accommodate them when we can, but the clock is ticking, and sadly time seems to be running out for Filton's Concorde."

Earlier in the summer Airbus, the company that hosts the British Airways-owned jet as a visitor attraction, announced it was removing the aircraft from public view for an unspecified amount of time.

It was, Airbus spokesmen assured us, for routine maintenance, which would need to take place in the nearby Brabazon hangar. But the 70-strong team of volunteers from the Bristol Aero Collection, who man the exhibit, were immediately suspicious.

The Concorde 216 made its spectacular final flight home on November 26, 2003, following a successful Evening Post campaign to bring the last Concorde to be built at Filton back to its spiritual home.

But the Filton site was only ever meant to be a temporary home. Plans have long been in the pipeline for the creation of a major aviation heritage centre, where planes such as Concorde would be under cover as the centrepiece of displays telling the story of the region's long-standing role in the world of aerospace.

In October 2006 an announcement was made that a site near Cribbs Causeway had been earmarked for a permanent home for the museum. A new organisation, the Concorde Trust, was set up to manage the development.

Plans for the £12 million museum took a step forward in 2008 when South Gloucestershire Council granted planning permission for the attraction behind The Venue complex at Cribbs Causeway. But since then, no further progress has been made on the scheme.

Concorde volunteer Clyde Brown, said with less than a month until the final visits, spirits are low among volunteers.

"Frankly, I have lost confidence in the Concorde Trust and do not believe the museum will ever happen," he said.

"I now believe that Alpha Foxtrot will never be seen in Bristol again.

"I feel I have been dishonest with all the visitors that I have hosted by telling them that all the money they have spent will go toward putting Concorde under cover."

The Abbots Leigh pensioner, who worked on the Concorde project at Filton during the 1960s, has been a volunteer guide at the attraction for seven years.

Next Tuesday, Mr Brown will be among the volunteers attending the AGM of the Bristol Aero Collection.

"I hope that the Concorde Trust will enlighten us as to the future of Concorde Alpha Foxtrot at the AGM," he said.

Mike Littleton, chairman of the Concorde Trust, said: "Until the scope of the maintenance is known there can be no reopening date for the exhibit."