onevan - you probably know more about the estate issue than me but since the hot rumour is that the aircraft will be civil registered, how will mil pilots be able to fly it without licences?
Artificial Horizon - I agree that this is a good opportunity and we will have a national solution but, and it is a big but, it should not be run for profit. There is in fact a completely different ethos between the two bidders with one looking at it purely from a business and profit standpoint and the other who seems truly committed to the improvement of UKSAR. I am not the blind optimist who thinks it will all be OK and the good guys will win - I am the worried realist concerned that a sitting tenant is less likely to be moved out because the existing relationship is too cosy and the goalposts keep being moved to facilitate that.
You have to ask though, if the SARH initial concept was no lesser service and we are already compromising on that in terms of cover, where else will corners be cut? The temptation with the SARH IPT must be to push on and close the deal but have they lost sight of the big picture that this process was supposed to be value for money and, in theory, a better SAR solution that what existed before. Shiny new aircraft alone won't be anything like enough.