British PM flies the (Angolan) flag!
 

The UK government has demonstrated its "support" for its own national airline industry by pitching up in Tokyo to meet the Japanese head of state in a Boeing 747 belonging to Angolan Airline SonAir. As expressions of contempt, one couldn't be much clearer. With support like that....

Presumably you know for a fact that BA and VS had aircraft available yet No.10 didn't call them up out of contempt?

If I was PM I'd ditch BA ASAP - just "flying the flag" is a cretinous excuse to support one airline whatever they are like, or how they perform

It was an N registered Atlas B744 in SonAir colors. Still, shows the contempt that the UK government have for the airline industry here in the UK.

There is no such thing as BA or VS not having an a/c available. These trips are planned long in advance and if necessary, the airlines will make arrangements to make sure that they have an a/c available for prestigious contracts such as these.

err.. I think he already did, which is the point of the thread :ooh:

Has anyone come up with a coherent explanation as to why uk.gov hates the airline industry? I'd love to know why they have such a downer on us.

Are the pilots and cabin crew Angolan?

A Tory source said: ‘We always approach British carriers first, but because we were travelling during a busy holiday season, they were unable to provide an aircraft for a five-day trip.’

Well less than a month ago Cameron flew to and from the US in a BA 777, so one hardly thinks there's been some massive policy change in the intervening 3 weeks...

http://hotnewshome.com/wp-content/up...i_2167106k.jpg

Didn't Aunt Beth's Flying Club have a VC10 or Tristar free for a few days?

Pathetic excuse from Cam&Co - what kind of message does this give out on a visit promoting trade with the UK ..... and the PM cant be bothered to use a G reg frame? None available - bull me thinks. More a case of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing

I can see good reason to have a plane from a UK based organisation flying Cameron and co to Asia for the publicity, be that BA, Virgin, bmi or the RAF

If that can't be achieved, why does it specifically need to be a G registered aircraft ?
News and media organisations are most unlikely to pick up on the country of registrationl - the only people who do are those with a specific knowledge of aviation.

Quote: "Has anyone come up with a coherent explanation as to why uk.gov hates the airline industry? I'd love to know why they have such a downer on us."

Overstress, would also dearly love to know the answer to this, it isn't just Calamity Clegg and his mates!

In BA replace 'British' with 'London' and it sums up the whole country really..

Adie (in the regions)

If it was Sonair then it's an AtlasAir aircraft operated by an Atlas flight crew. Unsure about nationality of cabin crew. The two Atlas/Sonair 744's are used to operate the "Houston Express" between Houston & Luanda primarily for the oil industry. I think it is a private charter operation. Atlas took the contract over from World's MD-11's a while back

This sounds like a Daily Mail wind-up. It sends a far more important message to Britain's potential business partners abroad that the government here is cost-conscious, internationally-focussed and supportive of business.

Most foreign press coverage will focus on the fact that he pitched up with a plane-load of British business leaders, keen to do business and trade with the countries being visited. Only the moaning minnies of the British so-called newspapers will focus on such irrelevant minutiae as this.

Perhaps BA is overcharging a bit, thinking your government was only bluffing to go for an overseas carrier...

The EU has banned all Angolan carriers from its airspace with the exception of a couple of aircraft from the national carrier TAAG which presumably get some special inspections and management while visiting mainstream countries.

Cameron's wonderful advisers have contracted this 747 from a secondary Angolan carrier, Sonangol, who to circumvent the ban on their country have got a US charter carrier to provide a registration for this aircraft. Isn't it great that our PM is supporting some grey market dodge.

I presume that, with the normal level of knowledge about aviation in the Prime Minister's office, they have no clue about nationality of airlines, EU bans, how to spell British Airways, or anything else. And our wonderful know-nothing Secretary of State for Transport can't advise them. They probably asked initially for the 747 to depart from London City.

I wonder how an Angolan company ever got offered such a charter in the first place. Of course, they are from a country where there is only one sure-fire way of doing business .........

Did this Atlas/Angolan aircraft fly out of the UK or did they fly a European leg first to avoid a huge Departure Tax?

If this was an episode of "Yes Minister" then sombody in Whitehall would be a member of the same gentleman's club as someone who played golf with another mason who worked for an Air Charter Broker who just happed to have a 747-400 kicking its heels for a few days. But of course "Yes Minister" was fictional.

Why doesn't have the UK military their own government tranportation service like other european countries? That way they would have additional security and safety measures as well as a way to always show their flag while being abroad.

Denti - because the press got themselves so excite when Tony Blair wanted his own jet and they labelled it Blair Force One, and now nobody in Govt dares raise the subject again, particularly with all this recession "we're all in it together" malarkey

Well if the government will suck ever-increasing amounts out of us in tax (eg APD) and then spend it overseas with Angolan airlines instead of supporting their taxpayer base, NO WONDER we're in a recession.

Some odd replies; why is it "cretinous" for a mission to promote trade with a particular country to use the services of that nation? Does Obama fly Ryanair then drive his guests in a Hyundai to eat New Zealand beef?

@davidjohnson6, thanks for the explanation. Over here the press will of course clamp down on some unjustified use, for example using an A310 to bring a minister back out of his vacation for half a day and then back to his vacation, or a green MP touring south america who flew there and back with the airlines, but needed the service of a government challenger while being there which meant two pretty long empty flights there and back.

But even when they modernized the fleet (2 A340, 2 A319, 4 Global 5000 and 3 Eurocopter AS352) there was only some minor rumble in the papers, nothing big. But the old fleed of A310s and Challengers was breaking down so often by then it was more of pity that they waited so long.

Getting his own personal jet with a proper flag would solve the problem of nationality.

Else if the problem is a frugal one, then sort it out with the lowest bidder, after all what have you got to lose ?

Cameron and the posh boys aren't just anti the British airline industry, they are anti aviation in general. Just look at what they've done to the RAF and to our aircraft carriers - but at least we can borrow a French one if we ask nicely. Thank goodness the runway extension at Southend was approved by Denham just before the general election; I don't think the coalition would have let that through - noisy, greenhouse gas emitting aeroplanes flying over Tory voters in Westcliff....

Surely Cameron is slowly learning that aviation is one of Britain's few success stories. Surely he'll at least freeze APD in future. Surely he'll fly British aircraft in future. Surely he'll approve a third runway at LHR. Surely he'll start making some sensible decisions that aren't just designed to support wealth and privilege. Surely he will......

Well, we can in theory borrow a Carrier as long as the French Premier is still in power, I wouldn't rate that plan lasting if and when Sarkozy gets ousted..

Surely Ryan Air could have come up with something more befitting the supposed austerity measures we are supposed to be going through.. :E

It's American, Atlas Air. This is peculiarly British seeing the price of everything and the value of nought! Would the US, French, or Germans envisage pitching up in an Angolan coloured charter? Of course not, anyhoo all the more money to **** up the wall on looking after Islamists that want us dead and benefits for the people we lost interest in when we found Poland's young were better looking and worked harder. Rule Britannia...

It wouldn't be the first time that British Airways in particular has turned down a charter for a Prime Minister.

Makes you wonder what BA really think of Cameron and his bent and twisted cronnies at Number 10/11, Posh Street, W1

Even the Guardian Does Not Make an Issue of This
 

David Cameron uses oil firm's plane | Politics | The Guardian

As you will see they tried British Airlines first. If we acted like a proper country not one driven by a media agenda then the Government would at least have a decent size corporate jet for official business.

The aircraft being used is N322SG.

FlightAware > Photo of Boeing 747-400 (N322SG)

As stated earlier, one of 2 owned and operated by Atlas on behalf of Sonair for the IAH-LAD route.

Time for "Cameron Force One". There must be an old viscount/748 banging about somewhere:E

I know the Mail would have a field day, but I honestly think an A319/20 or even an A330/343 would be appropriate. Have it flown by the RAF, with the air bridge out to the Falklands, etc a fleet of A330s could probably be justified, there should be commonality with the A330MRRT's, if they ever arrive. Indeed having a fleet of these aircraft keeps jobs in the UK, in the RAF, etc. I can't think of a more appropriate way to arrive in a country than on a G reg RAF aircraft, if it's slate grey, all the better, much of which was built in the UK.

Quote: "Cameron and the posh boys aren't just anti the British airline industry, they are anti aviation in general. Just look at what they've done to the RAF and to our aircraft carriers - but at least we can borrow a French one if we ask nicely. Thank goodness the runway extension at Southend was approved by Denham just before the general election; I don't think the coalition would have let that through - noisy, greenhouse gas emitting aeroplanes flying over Tory voters in Westcliff....

Surely Cameron is slowly learning that aviation is one of Britain's few success stories. Surely he'll at least freeze APD in future. Surely he'll fly British aircraft in future. Surely he'll approve a third runway at LHR. Surely he'll start making some sensible decisions that aren't just designed to support wealth and privilege. Surely he will......!"

.....and surely pigs will fly! Look out of the window right now, there's a whole flock of them going past.

Yup - there they go !

Gift 32SQ a couple of A319s or a BBJ for goodness sake. It's hardly a Royal Yacht and HMG can use it for occasions like this.

Most countries with Government aircraft use them for a multitude of other purposes too. But most also have an Air Force with sufficient personnel to manage their use.

The problem here is that the UK as a sovereignty is a global player politically for obvious reasons.

Unlike the US we don't have the economy to back that political power up. Yes the PM and senior cabinet ministers need to make many many trips abroad every year to keep Britain in the loop as a key political force but justifying purchasing and maintaining aircraft for the job may not be economically viable - I'm just guessing!

However, I do like the commonality idea with the A330 etc...:E