Image credit – Aldo Bidini
Air Force One isn’t just a movie. In fact the movie’s title is based on the actual name of the plane that the US President flies in, and now it looks like the UK government will be getting one of their own, or at least similar in concept and functionality. This is according to Reuters in which they reported on the UK government’s plans.
This comes about as Chancellor George Osborne plans to set out a new round of spending cuts in a bid to help eliminate the budget deficit. Now you might be thinking, how does getting a plane help cut the budget? Turns out that reusing planes by the RAF (the RAF Voyager A330 in this case) and outfitting it will save money in the long run.
As it stands, it costs the government about £775,000 in terms of chartering flights. So by spending an estimated £10 million refitting the Voyager A330, we suppose in the next 13 years or so they would have recouped their losses. It is unclear as to what kind of technology will be put into the plane to help make it secure, but safe to say that 10 million is a lot of money and no doubt it will be put to good use.
According to a government spokesperson, “As part of the government’s defence review, we have been looking at ways to make better use of the RAF fleet to transport senior ministers and consequently deliver savings for taxpayers. We have decided to adapt one of our existing Voyager aircraft so that, in addition to its primary air tanking role, it can transport Ministers and it will also be available for the Royal family to use.”
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