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A topical thread about the history of RAF VIP flying 
Flying the Royal Family and Prime Ministers has long been a special mission entrusted to the RAF.
Flying the Royal Family and Prime Ministers has long been a special mission entrusted to the RAF.
The Royal Flight flew Royals and Senior Ministers until 1995 when it was merged with 32 Sqn to become 32 (The Royal) Sqn. It flies VIPs in the BAe 146, however this is a regional airliner and not suited to long haul flying.
From the late 1960s long haul VIP flying was done by the VC-10s of 10 Sqn. Fast, sleek and built in the UK, this was the perfect aircraft to whisk Royals and Prime Ministers around the world showing off the best of British.
Margaret Thatcher loved the aircraft and insisted on flying in it whenever she had a long trip. The parties on board once she had let her hair down are the stuff of journalistic legend.
In 1998 Tony Blair caused a media furore when he spent £50K on a pair of sofa beds for the VC-10 so he could get some sleep during long flights. The UK media’s hostility to spending taxpayer money on making travel more comfortable for Prime Ministers is nothing new!
Despite the sofa beds, by the late 1990's the ageing VC-10 compared poorly with modern airliners for comfort. Commercial charter became the preference for Royal and Prime Ministerial visits.
However, there are disadvantages to charter:
- It's expensive, especially if you make last minute schedule changes (which PMs often do).
- Airliners lack defensive aids.
- State aircraft are symbols of national prestige. A chartered airliner doesn’t have the desired impact.
- It's expensive, especially if you make last minute schedule changes (which PMs often do).
- Airliners lack defensive aids.
- State aircraft are symbols of national prestige. A chartered airliner doesn’t have the desired impact.
In 2011 the VC-10 was replaced by Voyager and RAF now had a modern long-range airliner again. There was one problem: unlike a regular A330, a Voyager only has one class of seating, and that’s economy.
In 2016 Cameron got round this by ordering one Voyager (ZZ336) be converted into a 3 cabin VIP fit at a cost of ÂŁ10M. Instead of 291 economy seats this aircraft has 58 Business Class seats (split 16 + 42) & 100 economy.
The Govt headed off critisicm by emphasising the savings in charter and that the aircraft was still primarily for RAF AAR - evidenced by the grey livery. In fact one minor exterior detail was added: an additional Union Flag by door L2 (the one at the top of the steps).
However, Boris doesn’t like flying in a grey aircraft so it is being repainted at a cost of £90K. In a week or so ZZ336 will emerge from the hangar at Marshalls in Cambridge and we will see what the latest chapter in RAF VIP flying looks like.
