Cheap Seats Heat Up Telephone Lines

Thirty million callers flooded British Airways phone lines for cheap tickets between London and New York on the fast-flying Concorde.

The airline said calls came in from as far as California and Texas and from more than half a dozen European countries for the 190 round-trip tickets costing just 10 pounds ($16.30).

Flights on the Concorde usually cost around 5,400 pounds ($8,800).

Most of the winners, the first to get through on phone lines that opened at 2 p.m. PST Tuesday, were Britons. There were four Americans and nine people from continental European countries among the winners.

The last pair of tickets was snagged by a Scottish building painter whose mobile phone battery nearly ran out.

British Airways is running the contest to celebrate its 10 years as a privately-owned company. British Telecom counted the calls for the airline.