The late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in 1973 considered helping China buy Concorde supersonic jetliners, according to British government files declassified Thursday.

The papers show Tanaka acknowledged there was strong opposition in Japan to buying the aircraft due to noise and pollution fears.

Tanaka's idea was for China to fly Concordes from Beijing to Europe via Tokyo. He believed much of the domestic environmental opposition would disappear if the service was Chinese instead of Japanese, according to the documents, which covered talks Tanaka had in 1973 with then British Prime Minister Edward Heath.

No countries, apart from the manufacturers Britain and France, bought the aircraft. The Civil Aviation Administration of China did, however, along with a number of other countries, sign a preliminary purchase agreement for three Concordes in 1972.