At the age of 77, most people are thinking of slowing down a little. But not Gladys Kell and her pal Mavis Ward, 75. In fact, the intrepid travellers are aiming to go supersonic.

And it won't be for the first time: as an avid fan of the world's fastest passenger airplane - Concorde - Gladys has broken the sound barrier four times already.

And now the pioneering ultra-fast jet is destined to make its final touchdown, Gladys is desperate to make sure she's on the historic flight.

She and her regular travelling partner, Mavis - also a veteran Concorde passenger with three flights under her belt - are on a waiting list for the last ever flight of the plane she loves.

"We wrote to British Airways to see if we could get on the last ever flight and got a letter back almost straightaway," said Gladys. "We are on a waiting list because so many people want to travel on it for the last time.

"All we know is that it'll be in October sometime, so we are keeping that month free to make sure we're available! We don't know if it'll fly from Manchester or Heathrow or where it will go to - although we'd be quite pleased to go to New York!"

The Cleckheaton pensioner first flew on Concorde in August 1986 and has since travelled on the supersonic jet a further three times, including Concorde's last ever flight from Leeds-Bradford Airport in June 2000.

A former magistrate and Deputy Lady Mayoress of Spenborough, Gladys paid only £465 for her first flight from Leeds-Bradford to Paris.

"The first time I flew on Concorde, they brought me a collapsible coffee table and put champagne and canapes on it," she said. "The champagne was flowing like water and it was very luxurious. It was hard to believe we were going faster than a bullet!"

After Concorde was grounded following the horrific crash in Paris, in July 2000, Gladys and Mavis wrote to British Airways asking if they could be on the first flight when it returned to business, but were told it was fully booked with VIPs.

"Mavis and I kept talking about how sad it was for such a magnificent plane to have come down," said Gladys, who will shortly take her 25th trip on the Orient Express. "We thought that if they put it on again, it would be very safe and that if it did crash, at least we'd be doing something we loved.

"The numbers of travellers on Concorde have gone down and I think British Airways probably think it's not worth it. If we get on, I shall feel thrilled - over the moon - to think I was on the very, very last flight. It will be more of an honour than anything else."

Gladys, of Hightown Road, Cleckheaton, is now writing to British Airways to find out how to bid for items from Concorde, which is being broken up and the parts sold off.

"I've got my eye on a salt and pepper cruet set - they're only £18," she said. "But I don't think I can afford the plane's nose, which is £7 million, or seats which are £3,000 to £4,500 each!"