The Queen’s official fleet of planes is to be sold off as part of defence cuts in a move that will force her to borrow Boris Johnson’s Union Flag jet.
Airliners used by the Royal Family since the 1980s will be withdrawn from service next year to save money – leaving the sovereign without a dedicated aircraft for the first time in her reign.
With no plans for a replacement for the four BAE-146 passenger jets, the Queen, Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will have to share the Prime Minister’s RAF Voyager plane, which received a controversial £900,000 makeover last year.
The Queen gives a wave as the plane prepares to depart from a royal tour of Fiji
The four BAE-146 passenger jets will be taken out of service next year, meaning the royals will have to borrow the Prime Minister’s plane
The move is part of the Ministry of Defence’s Integrated Review which has already caused controversy due to plans to reduce the Army by 10,000 soldiers and for important ships and frontline aircraft to be withdrawn from service.
The results of the review are due to be formally revealed in two stages later this month, but the Mail can reveal that one of the key announcements will be the grounding of the Queen’s planes.
The four BAE-146 regional airliners are part of the RAF’s historic 32 (Royal) Squadron, previously known as The Queen’s Flight. It means the squadron, which is based at RAF Northolt on the outskirts of London, will be left with just one AW-109 helicopter, which is suitable for only short flights in Britain.
The loss of the Queen’s fleet of aircraft echoes the decommissioning of her personal yacht, HMS Britannia. In 1994, then prime minister John Major decided the costs of refitting her were too great, and the Queen famously shed a tear when the yacht was taken out of service in 1997.
Last night Tobias Ellwood, chairmain of the Commons defence committee, said: ‘The selling off of the BAE-146s will leave a gaping void in the…
Read the full article at www.dailymail.co.uk
