Royal and Ministerial Air Travel Project

Introduction

Every year members of the royal family and senior government ministers undertake some 2,000 journeys by air in support of Government business and to support a wide range of public engagements. The large majority of that travel is by scheduled flights.

However, a significant number of royal and ministerial journeys require the use of special, non-scheduled air travel, for reasons of security and to meet business needs. For example, the Queen and Prime Minister require special flights due to security restrictions. Furthermore, many other flights, particularly those overseas involving visits to a number of locations, do not fit in with regular airline schedules.

Non-scheduled travel for the royal family and senior ministers is provided primarily by 32 Squadron of the RAF. Where RAF planes are unavailable, additional capacity is provided by the charter market. Due to increased operational demands for 32 Squadron, users have had to place greater reliance on the charter market in recent years.

In 2004, Sir Peter Gershon was invited to review air travel arrangements for the royal family and government ministers. His report was published in June 2006. The report found that the existing arrangements were fragmented, fell short, at times, of the levels of safety, security and reliability required for VIP users, and did not always achieve value for money. His recommendations included the establishment of a new one-stop air travel service providing a dedicated aircraft service as well as access to more formalised arrangements with the charter market.

A team has now been established within the Department for Transport to implement the recommendations of Sir Peter Gershon's review relating to the establishment of a new air travel service. In line with Sir Peter Gershon's recommendations, the Department intends to invite the private sector to bid to provide the new service. On 23 May 2007, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the launch of the formal procurement process and the issue of a Prior Information Notice to the Official Journal of the European Union.

A significant amount of work remains to be done to turn Sir Peter Gershon's proposals into a detailed specification and to carry out the procurement. The Department's priority over the next few months will be to turn Sir Peter Gershon's proposals into a statement of requirement that sets out the standards of safety, security and reliability that will be required. We will follow a rigorous procurement process to ensure that the provision of this service does not exceed existing budgets. In line with standard procurement practice, the Department will set out a timetable for the procurement when it publishes a formal OJEU notice later in the year.