When the Queen....

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24 years 2 months

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When the queen flys does she have several other aircraft behind whatever she travels in, like Bush??. Apparently he cant get off (the plane that is) until a second aircraft has landed, but leave the americans, q is do we have like an air force one, or are they all RAF planes that they use?

Really we should have a couple of royal 747's. would look good. and i hope that what she uses isnt leased.

also on airport once i saw that she was travelling to Aussie or NZ and they replaced all the seats in upper business, did they install the throne i am wandering? she would have been happy in BA business, as per below post! haha

cheers

Stables.

Original post

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 636

RE: When the Queen....

hmmm, abit pie in the sky your post!!

The Royal family use a small fleet of BAe 146's from the Royal Flight RAF. They have also been known to lease 767/777 aircraft from BA for long-haul tours as well i think.

As for the thrown being installed.... i wouldn't count on it.

As for the RAF operating 747's for the royals I cant see it happening. The Queen is usually commited to spending less and less on her travel expenses every year... not more and more.

As for George Bush not being able to disembark Air Force One (a callsign used when he is on board ANY aircraft, not just a USAF 742, the second aircraft could possibly be carrying secret service / security specialists or even his limousine / CIA Four wheel drive???

LGKR :p

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Posts: 2,491

RE: When the Queen....

I suspect the RAF will purchase some A340's.

Although they are supposedly buying 767-336's for tanker conversion I reckon they'd go for new build A340's.

Not just for Royal use - the existing VC-10 / L-1011 fleet in use for VIP flights is decidedly creaky and ministers/the PM cannot go round leasing BA's 777s whenever they need to go somewhere.

I'd put my money on A340-500s with BAE wings and RR engines.

One thing is certain - they are guaranteed to be Rolls Royce powered! (RR Conway on the VC10, RB211 on the L1011/767 or even 747-400s and Trent on the A340).

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RE: When the Queen....

U mean Royal Airbus as they are part British!!! They do have some nice BAe 146's, which the three princes travlled on to get back here because of the recent death. Aparently they usually have to travel on three planes (one each - luckly bu#gers!). Does that mean three in a row at the same time or three seperate BA plans?

Regards,

Andrew M

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 636

RE: When the Queen....

I didn't think it was like three in a row on three seperate planes... I'd have gone with the common sense of them travelling at different times.

Of-course the UK MOD would buy Airbus over Boeing... thats if they'd buy anything at all. I know I read something a while back RE Blair Force One - supposed future purchase of an A330??

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RE: When the Queen....

the reason the Royal Family normally have to travel seperately is, if anything should happen to the a/c, we don't lose the first, second and third in line to the throne in one fell swoop.

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RE: When the Queen....

yeah - that's the reason, also the RAF also operate a significant BAe 125-700 Fleet as well as the BAe 146-100.

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RE: When the Queen....

I think it would be a good idea for the queen / PM to buy an A330 / 340. The 146 just isn't good enough range wise to be a serious aircraft for people who reguarly travel around the world.

Tony Blair has also chartered Concorde a couple of times and this must cost a fortune. Other countries have their own aircraft and I think we should too.

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RE: When the Queen....

I am aware that on a previous trip to Australia she was flown here by a Qantas 747-400 VH-OJU a friend of mine was the first officer on the journey

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RE: When the Queen....

The Queen just hogs a BA 747 to her self and has the aircraft furnicture which was amde for her put in!!

Regards,

Andrew M

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RE: When the Queen....

Only in Britain would the "news" papers actually care about the cost of such things - ie. "Blair Force One" headlines. For a leading G7 country, we are a bit tight don't you think?

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RE: When the Queen....

Didnt there used to be a dedicated Royal BAe146 that was sold as it was costing too much? (same with the ship-britannia)

The queen and her people used a BA A319 (G-EUPN) to fly to Italy a couple of years back. (I serviced this a/c at NCL last year and it had a broken coffee machine. I hope the queen wasnt subjected to such common machanic behaviour!!) lol

Regards

Ben

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RE: When the Queen....

we (the uk) can't aford to operate a fleet of dedicated big jets and really using a vc-10 wasn't any good cos our refueling assests are too streched.

i think that hiring a BA plane is great publicity for BA, looks good anyway, and is cheaper for the state (and therefore me the taxpayer :-))

rabie :9

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RE: When the Queen....

lol - talking sense their!!

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RE: When the Queen....

Such aircraft are not for use just by the Queen but by the Government as well.

There is a definite security angle to using a chartered plane for VIP transport. Why do you think other countries buy their own jets?

Besides, the cost is negligible in the scheme of things.