Boris Johnson blew nearly £800,000 of taxpayers’ cash painting a union flag on the prime ministerial plane, we can reveal.
The then-Prime Minister triggered fury in 2020 when it emerged the Government spent £900,000 respraying an RAF Voyager so he could fly around the world in a red, white and blue jet.
The Airbus A330, which is also used as an air-to-air refuelling tanker - was originally military grey. Now, a freedom of information request by the Taxpayers’ Alliance has found he splashed another £800,000 sprucing up a smaller Airbus A321 which the Government leases from charter firm Titan Airways.
It takes to £1.7million the amount ministers have spent repainting planes. The second aircraft was modified so it too bore the Union Flag across its fuselage and tail fin in what the Cabinet Office calls “the Global UK branding”.
Titan later swapped that plan for an identical model, which was supplied with the same livery. Rishi Sunak frequently uses the red, white and blue plane, and is due to fly aboard it to the NATO summit in Lithuania.
The aircraft is designed to be used for shorter flights and is preferred by No10 because, unlike the bigger Voyager, it is equipped with WiFi coverage - meaning officials can stay in communication with Downing Street while airborne.
Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry said: "We’ve seen a succession of Tory Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries addicted to the private jet lifestyle, and it is high time they were honest with the British people about how much that is all costing, rather than having the figures forced out of them like this.
“There was never any public debate about the costs and benefits of leasing a second government plane, and the higher those costs grow, the more we need to know what benefit the taxpayer is getting in return.”
TaxPayers' Alliance campaign manager Conor Holohan said: “Taxpayers will be livid at the sky high cost of this paint job. Ministers should rein in their love of luxury.”
Zap Air Holdings, the company that owns Titan, announced in its annual report that it had launched an affiliate company, Titan Airways Malta, to stop it losing money because of Brexit. It wrote that the firm would “mitigate against the potential loss of intra-European Union revenues".
The Cabinet Office initially tried to keep secret the cost of painting the Titan Airways jet. But he was forced to reveal the price following a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Replying to the freedom of information request, it said: “The total cost of painting the aircraft in question with the Union Jack was £783,940. The branding of this aircraft with the Union Flag was an intentional Government policy to project the role of the United Kingdom on the international stage.”
A government spokeswoman said: “Ministers and members of the Royal Household sometimes require the use of non-commercial air travel.
“The aircraft with its Global Britain livery promotes a strong image of the role the UK plays on the international stage when it is used by the Prime Minister, government ministers and senior members of the royal household. It also offers value for money compared to the ad-hoc hire of private planes.”
