Who did Gordon Brown fly with to Japan?

[crewmeal]

Yet another Skynews shot of Gordon Brown boarding an unknown aircraft. Any ideas?

[CorkEICK]

PM Plane Stupid


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Jonathan LevyJuly 7, 2008 4:36 PM






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Ben Brogan (http://broganblog.dailymail.co.uk/2008/07/time-to-get-the.html)has declared himself unimpressed with the Prime Minister's choice of aircraft. Well, wait till he hears this.
The plane on which we travelled to the G8 with the PM belongs to a company called Pace Airlines, itself owned by a chap called Bob Brooks.
Before branching out into the aviation business, Brooks was best known for running the Hooters chain of, shall we say, adult restaurants.
In fact, for a time Pace Airlines actually flew as Hooters Air. The distinctive Hooters owl logo adorned each of the airline's tail-fin and a couple of 'Hooters Girls' (tight white tank-tops and orange running shorts) worked the aisles.
There were, of-course, no 'Hooter Girls' on the PM's aeroplane.......the flight crew were top notch.
But Brogan has a serious point. This is the Prime Minister of the world's 4th largest economy we're talking about. He shouldn't be conducting foreign policy in any plane chartered from anyone.
If British Airways can't stump up an aircraft when the Prime Minister travels abroad then he should bite the bullet and reverse his recent decision to abandon plans for a British ministerial plane.

[CorkEICK]

06 July 2008 11:32 AM

Time to get the guy a plane

http://broganblog.dailymail.co.uk/images/2008/07/06/dallasmavericks_3.jpg (http://anmblog.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/06/dallasmavericks_3.jpg)A couple of hours ago Gordon Brown and the travelling menagerie accompanying him set off for Japan and the G8, which starts tomorrow. Attending summits in far flung corners is one of the big items on the Prime Ministerial job description. He may not have much time for the flummery of foreign visits, but Britain's seat at a number of top tables - G8, Nato, UN P5, EU, Commonwealth - depends on putting in the airmiles. For this trip, Mr Brown is using the Boeing 767 that usually carries the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. The plane is operated by a company called MLW (http://www.mlwair.com/) in Dallas. The journey will be longer than you might expect, because they have to stop in Novosibirsk to refuel for an hour and a half. There are no beds, and the seats barely recline. Which matters if, as Mr Brown has decreed, the delegation must fly all day, to arrive in time for breakfast in Japan. Just when they would be going to bed back home, they will be launching on a long day of meetings. Grim.
When Mr Brown took over last year one of the first things he did was scrap the plan agreed by Tony Blair to acquire a long-range jet capable of carrying future PMs and their entourage, or Her Majesty and her bunch. The argument was that it would be cheaper and more secure in the long run than relying on British Airways rentals. Mr Brown thought otherwise and junked the idea, one of those gestures which seemed clever at the time (no 'Blair Force One' for me thank you very much) but now seems ill judged. The BA jet that crashed at Heathrow earlier this year left the airline with no spare capacity to rent out a plane to Downing Street. Finding transport is now one of the biggest headaches for No10 staff, made worse by Mr Brown's pathological refusal to commit himself in advance to travel plans. Last minute means last resort, hence the Flying Tangerine (http://broganblog.dailymail.co.uk/2008/04/the-flying-tang.html) he used to get to Washington, and today's cheerleader express. The biggest favour Mr Brown could do his successors is reinstate the plan for a new plane. Without it UK plc is beginning to look ridiculous.

[crewmeal]

Interesting!! Penny pinching Brown flying in a plane suitable for 'adults' I wonder if his reputation can sink any lower. Just by chance how much does it cost to position in an a/c like this from the States plus the refueling in Russia etc etc. Wouldn't it be cheaper to use an aircraft a little nearer home?

[AircraftOperations]

It'd cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to charter.

Probably looking at six figures alone to ferry to and from the USA.

As for aircraft nearer to home.... there has got to be an available long haul jet at relatively short notice (tough in the summer season) which has suitable seating (numbers and luxury) for the VIPs and the journos plus luggage space for the above.

There are only a handful of commercially available aircraft which fit the bill, and can only assume that the European ones were already busy.

Choosing a holiday carrier's A330 or suchlike might not be seen to be "independent" enough - even if there were enough business class seats onboard. Or maybe there were these options available, but that number 10 liked the look of the 767's interior - even for the extra cost.

Would/could number 10 or the Royals ever charter a Virgin Atlanic machine?

[22/04]

I am sure they could and think the Government has. But VS have little spare capacity at the moment leading to thier own woes!

[Avitor]

Between them they ate more food than there is in the whole of Africa. :eek:

[MATaxi]

Having been in the pouring rain at the 'Row on Sunday , I'm assuming the aircraft is N767MW. The aircraft departed with a Pace (PCE) flight number. Aircraft holds about 100 in all first class seats.

[AircraftOperations]

That's the one.

Great cabin but the inflight entertainment is crap though.