Concorde Sets London-Cape Town Speed Record

LONDON (AP) _ A British Airways supersonic Concorde jetliner flew from London to Cape Town, South Africa, in 8 hours 8 minutes Thursday, breaking an 8-year-old speed record for the route, an airline spokesman said.

″That is indeed a record,″ British Airways spokesman David Snelling said. ″The flight was 15 minutes ahead of schedule, so it was even better than we hoped.″

The plane stopped once during the 6,000-mile journey to refuel in Monrovia, Liberia.

The previous record of 11 hours 54 minutes was set by a Boeing 747.

Thursday’s flight was a charter by the Cunard Line. The cruise company was flying passengers to and from its Queen Elizabeth II luxury liner, which was on a world cruise.