i wonder if this may mean further MRTTs for the RAAF?
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...29-662,00.html
VIP RAAF fleet upgrade follows tragedy
Ian McPhedran
June 18, 2008 12:00am
THE RAAF will convert two of its five new Airbus A-330 tanker planes to VIP aircraft.
The move follows the crash of a Garuda jet in Indonesia last year, in which two Australian officials, two police officers and a journalist died.
They were forced on to the flight because the RAAF VIP aircraft carrying then foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer was too small.
The A-330, twin-engine, long-range jets will receive a VIP makeover, allowing the Prime Minister and senior ministers to travel with staff, officials and the media.
The Howard government reduced the VIP fleet, forcing the media to make its own way on overseas visits.
But after the Garuda tragedy, media companies pushed for bigger aircraft so staff could fly with the Prime Minister.
Industry sources put the cost of converting the planes at about $25 million an aircraft.
This would include installing a bedroom, office and bathroom suite, a first-class cabin for senior staff and a business class cabin for the media.
The five Airbus aircraft are being bought under a $1.8 billion contract that includes Qantas maintenance support.
The first plane arrived in Brisbane last week.
The VIP jets will also be used by the Governor-General and visiting dignitaries.
Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told a Senate committee this month that new VIP aircraft made "a lot of sense . . . after the tragedy that befell us as a nation last year".