Britain’s Royal Household and Ministry of Defence are evaluating options for providing flights for Queen Elizabeth II and her family beginning April 1 next year, when existing military and private charter arrangements expire. The revival of an earlier plan to purchase a new head-of-state aircraft appears unlikely due to concerns about the continuing recession. However, the Queen will be taking delivery of a new Sikorsky S-76 to replace one that had been operated under a 10-year lease that expired in April.
Queen Elizabeth has become a significant consumer of executive charter services since scrapping plans to buy a new private jet in October 2008. Royal accounts publicly reported on June 29 revealed that Britain’s royal family has been using the services of an undisclosed charter operator under a contract drawn up in anticipation of Royal Air Force plans to withdraw the availability of 32 Squad- ron aircraft on April 1 this year. In fact, while the RAF later agreed to extend the availability of flights in its aging British Aerospace 146 and HS125 jets until March 31 next year, the Queen and other royals have had to make increasing use of charter flights because the military needed to divert the aircraft to service in the Middle East.
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