All the pictures I can remeber of Mrs. T travelling were in an RAF VC-10 and a BIA 1-11.
Anyway, many of these political issues are aviation related. We (in the UK) are losing ground to our continental friends because of our lack of infrastructure and seeming lack of real interest (not the odd soundbite and focus group excercise) in air transport issues from our "leaders".
P.S. - do we have a Foreign Secretary at the moment?