CONCORDE'S final resting place could be an award-winning museum in the region, British Airways (BA) revealed last night.

The attraction is the only one in the region to have made the shortlist drawn up by BA bosses looking for something to do with the aircraft fleet when it is taken out of service in October.

The Yorkshire Air Museum (YAM), at Elvington, near York, has been in talks with BA for two years about the possibility of providing a home for one of planes.

"We have the runway, we have the planning permission for a hanger to house the aircraft, and we have the recognition as an international air museum," said YAM director Ian Reed.

"We want to impress on BA that the incredible aircraft would be a great attraction for the region and we certainly have the facilities to look after it."

The air museum already has a working replica of the Wright Flyer, which is almost indistinguishable from the original machine flown by brothers Orville and Wilbur in 1903, making the museum an international attraction.

BA confirmed yesterday that it had received about 60 museum bids for one of the seven aircraft in the fleet - and said that the Yorkshire museum was a serious contender.

Mr Reed said he believed the museum was on a shortlist of 12.

Other strong contenders in the bidding include Heathrow's fifth terminal, the Seattle Museum of Flight, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC and Duxford Aircraft Museum.

BA officially opened bids from museums around the world when it announced in April that Concorde, the flagship of its fleet for nearly three decades, would take its last flight on October 24.

"The criteria we are looking at when choosing where to put the planes is where the museum is, how many people would come to visit and how big a show Concorde would get there," said airline spokesman Richard Goodfellow.

He added that the final decision on Concorde's retirement was supported by its manufacturer Airbus.

The reasons behind its grounding include operational costs and the falling market following the Paris crash in July 2000 and the events of September 11.

Graceful bird of the sky that became the symbol of the supersonic age

* Great Britain and France began working separately towards a supersonic aircraft in 1956. They were working along such similar lines that, in 1962, they decided to develop the aircraft jointly.

* More than 2.5 million passengers have flown supersonically on British Airways' Concorde since she entered commercial service in 1976.

l* Concorde is the world's only supersonic passenger aircraft, cruising at more than twice the speed of sound, at about 1,350 mph, and at an altitude of up to 60,000ft (more than 11 miles high).

*l A typical New York crossing takes 3hrs and 20min. Travelling westwards, the five-hour time difference means Concorde arrives before it has taken off.

* Since they entered commercial services, British Airways' Concordes have operated almost 50,000 flights, clocking up more than 140,000 flying hours, about 100,000 of them supersonically, and travelling some 140 million miles.

* £14m has been spent since January 2000 in a programme to ensure the interior of the aircraft is as elegant as its exterior, including new tableware, an extensive food and wine list and specially designed ink-blue leather and fabric seats.

* Prince Philip was the first member of the Royal Family to fly on Concorde, in January 1972. The Queen flew five years later.

* Phil Collins took Concorde from London to New York to appear on both sides of the Atlantic in one day for the Live Aid music event in aid of famine relief in Africa.