Serpo
20th June 2015, 11:24 PM
Charles's heir miles bill soars over £1million: Cost of 'green' Prince's globetrotting has risen by £100,000 a year... thanks to 28-seat luxury jet
Prince Charles has broken through the £1million barrier for flight costs
Foreign trips on luxury jet can cost up to a quarter of a million pounds each
Converted Airbus A320-232 has a doubled bed and plush 'presidential' area
Flights are paid for by taxpayer out of the Royal Family's Sovereign Grant
By Olga Craig (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Olga+Craig) and Claudia Joseph For The Mail On Sunday (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Claudia+Joseph+For+The+Mail+On+Sunday)
Published: 07:00 EST, 21 June 2015 | Updated: 10:38 EST, 21 June 2015
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(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3132814/Charles-s-heir-miles-bill-soars-1million-Cost-green-Prince-s-globetrotting-risen-100-000-year-thanks-28-seat-luxury-jet.html#comments)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/21/01/29D138B600000578-3132814-Prince_Charles_pictured_visiting_Colombia_in_Octob er_spent_more_-a-25_1434846367616.jpg
Prince Charles, pictured visiting Colombia in October, spent more than £1million of public money on air travel in the last year
His environmental credentials are well known – but then so is his taste for some of the finer things in life.
So Prince Charles will be braced for scrutiny when figures released this week reveal he has spent more than £1million of public money on air travel in the past year, thanks in part to his use of a luxury French jet named Head of State.
Boasting a double bed, shower room, ‘presidential’ area and an array of plush, clubman-style recliner seats, the converted Airbus A320-232 has been hired for three of the Prince’s foreign trips. One of these alone – to America – cost almost a quarter of a million pounds.
Charles and Camilla used the lavish jet, based at Le Bourget airport outside Paris, for their tours of Mexico and Colombia in October last year, the Middle East in February and America in March.
For their four-day trip to the US, the aircraft was flown to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire before travelling to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
The Sovereign Grant accounts to be published on Tuesday, which calculate the Royal Family’s cost to taxpayers, will show this is the first time the Prince has broken through the £1million barrier for flights.
It is also expected to reveal a rise in his private income from the Duchy of Cornwall.
But a Palace spokesman said the total cost of flights had increased because, unlike the previous year, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have undertaken three transatlantic trips, as well as trips to the Middle East and to France to mark the D-Day landings.
‘They have been on official visits to Colombia and Mexico, as well as the US and a visit to Canada at the invitation of the Canadian government,’ the spokesman added.
Last year, Charles and Camilla spent £906,662 on air travel, including two Foreign and Commonwealth trips to the Middle East and India and a much criticised £246,160 flight to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral.
That’s not to mention £96,649 on staff reconnaissance trips and £123,083 on the Royal Train.
Scroll down for video
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/29D138B000000578-0-image-m-6_1434826155733.jpg
Flying high: The luxury French jet named Head of State (pictured) has been hired for three of the Prince’s foreign trips
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/29D138C400000578-0-image-m-9_1434826179967.jpg
Fit for a king: The converted Airbus A320-232 - used on three foreign trips last year - boasts a double bed
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/29D138C800000578-0-image-m-10_1434826194083.jpg
Jet-setter: The plane also has a shower room, as well as a plush ‘presidential’ area for the Prince's comfort
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/21/29D1896C00000578-3132814-image-m-28_1434830441154.jpg
Specially adapted, the plane seats 26 instead of the usual 180, has wi-fi and satellite phones, a ten-channel TV system with 200 movies on demand, and even Nespresso coffee machines
This year’s figure is higher, also, because Charles is increasingly standing in for the Queen on foreign tours. She has been gradually handing over her more arduous jobs in a ‘gentle succession’ by the Palace.
The Head of State Airbus is owned by Masterjet and, according to its website, a flight from London to Maryland, returning four days later would cost £205,187. With VAT added at 20 per cent, the cost increases to £246,224.
Specially adapted, the plane seats 26 instead of the usual 180, has wi-fi and satellite phones, a ten-channel TV system with 200 movies on demand, and even Nespresso coffee machines.
Sources within the Palace, however, were keen to downplay the Prince’s use of the Airbus.
‘A number of factors are taken into consideration when deciding which form of travel to use, including security, availability, punctuality and logistics,’ one said.
‘To allow Their Royal Highnesses to fulfil a busy programme and to meet the inevitable security requirements, using scheduled services is not always possible although always carefully considered.
‘In the case of all tours, after careful consideration, charter flights are often the only practical option.’
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/29D138CE00000578-0-image-m-12_1434826219105.jpg
One of the trips on the jet – to America – cost almost a quarter of a million pounds, funded by the taxpayer
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/21/01/1E18207200000578-3132814-State_visit_Charles_and_Camilla_s_foreign_trips_in clude_a_visit_-a-26_1434846389008.jpg
State visit: Charles and Camilla's foreign trips include a visit to Canada (pictured) and to the US last year
Prince Charles and veterans pay homage on D-Day
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/06/06/video-undefined-1E88AA2200000578-13_636x358.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/085D865700000514-0-image-a-14_1434826429517.jpg
Prince Charles has undertaken three transatlantic trips, as well as trips to the Middle East and to France (pictured with the Queen) to mark the D-Day landings
In the past, courtiers have privately admitted the Prince needed to ‘substantially curb’ his use of gas-guzzling jets. One explained it as ‘a generational thing’, admitting the younger Royals were more inclined to board scheduled flights.
The Prince’s spending on air fares is in direct contrast to his son William, who often takes scheduled flights. Last December, he travelled to New York with his wife Kate on a scheduled British Airways flight, while the pair also flew to Mustique for a family holiday in February aboard a commercial aircraft.
In May last year, William chose to fly economy class on an American Airlines flight from Memphis to Dallas as he returned home from a friend’s wedding.
A passenger tweeted: ‘I am still amazed. Prince William flies [economy]. That’s pretty humble/awesome. Who knew?’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3132814/Charles-s-heir-miles-bill-soars-1million-Cost-green-Prince-s-globetrotting-risen-100-000-year-thanks-28-seat-luxury-jet.html#ixzz3dfgHxerJ
Prince Charles has broken through the £1million barrier for flight costs
Foreign trips on luxury jet can cost up to a quarter of a million pounds each
Converted Airbus A320-232 has a doubled bed and plush 'presidential' area
Flights are paid for by taxpayer out of the Royal Family's Sovereign Grant
By Olga Craig (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Olga+Craig) and Claudia Joseph For The Mail On Sunday (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Claudia+Joseph+For+The+Mail+On+Sunday)
Published: 07:00 EST, 21 June 2015 | Updated: 10:38 EST, 21 June 2015
46 shares
137
View comments
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3132814/Charles-s-heir-miles-bill-soars-1million-Cost-green-Prince-s-globetrotting-risen-100-000-year-thanks-28-seat-luxury-jet.html#comments)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/21/01/29D138B600000578-3132814-Prince_Charles_pictured_visiting_Colombia_in_Octob er_spent_more_-a-25_1434846367616.jpg
Prince Charles, pictured visiting Colombia in October, spent more than £1million of public money on air travel in the last year
His environmental credentials are well known – but then so is his taste for some of the finer things in life.
So Prince Charles will be braced for scrutiny when figures released this week reveal he has spent more than £1million of public money on air travel in the past year, thanks in part to his use of a luxury French jet named Head of State.
Boasting a double bed, shower room, ‘presidential’ area and an array of plush, clubman-style recliner seats, the converted Airbus A320-232 has been hired for three of the Prince’s foreign trips. One of these alone – to America – cost almost a quarter of a million pounds.
Charles and Camilla used the lavish jet, based at Le Bourget airport outside Paris, for their tours of Mexico and Colombia in October last year, the Middle East in February and America in March.
For their four-day trip to the US, the aircraft was flown to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire before travelling to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
The Sovereign Grant accounts to be published on Tuesday, which calculate the Royal Family’s cost to taxpayers, will show this is the first time the Prince has broken through the £1million barrier for flights.
It is also expected to reveal a rise in his private income from the Duchy of Cornwall.
But a Palace spokesman said the total cost of flights had increased because, unlike the previous year, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have undertaken three transatlantic trips, as well as trips to the Middle East and to France to mark the D-Day landings.
‘They have been on official visits to Colombia and Mexico, as well as the US and a visit to Canada at the invitation of the Canadian government,’ the spokesman added.
Last year, Charles and Camilla spent £906,662 on air travel, including two Foreign and Commonwealth trips to the Middle East and India and a much criticised £246,160 flight to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral.
That’s not to mention £96,649 on staff reconnaissance trips and £123,083 on the Royal Train.
Scroll down for video
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/29D138B000000578-0-image-m-6_1434826155733.jpg
Flying high: The luxury French jet named Head of State (pictured) has been hired for three of the Prince’s foreign trips
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/29D138C400000578-0-image-m-9_1434826179967.jpg
Fit for a king: The converted Airbus A320-232 - used on three foreign trips last year - boasts a double bed
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/29D138C800000578-0-image-m-10_1434826194083.jpg
Jet-setter: The plane also has a shower room, as well as a plush ‘presidential’ area for the Prince's comfort
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/21/29D1896C00000578-3132814-image-m-28_1434830441154.jpg
Specially adapted, the plane seats 26 instead of the usual 180, has wi-fi and satellite phones, a ten-channel TV system with 200 movies on demand, and even Nespresso coffee machines
This year’s figure is higher, also, because Charles is increasingly standing in for the Queen on foreign tours. She has been gradually handing over her more arduous jobs in a ‘gentle succession’ by the Palace.
The Head of State Airbus is owned by Masterjet and, according to its website, a flight from London to Maryland, returning four days later would cost £205,187. With VAT added at 20 per cent, the cost increases to £246,224.
Specially adapted, the plane seats 26 instead of the usual 180, has wi-fi and satellite phones, a ten-channel TV system with 200 movies on demand, and even Nespresso coffee machines.
Sources within the Palace, however, were keen to downplay the Prince’s use of the Airbus.
‘A number of factors are taken into consideration when deciding which form of travel to use, including security, availability, punctuality and logistics,’ one said.
‘To allow Their Royal Highnesses to fulfil a busy programme and to meet the inevitable security requirements, using scheduled services is not always possible although always carefully considered.
‘In the case of all tours, after careful consideration, charter flights are often the only practical option.’
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/29D138CE00000578-0-image-m-12_1434826219105.jpg
One of the trips on the jet – to America – cost almost a quarter of a million pounds, funded by the taxpayer
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/21/01/1E18207200000578-3132814-State_visit_Charles_and_Camilla_s_foreign_trips_in clude_a_visit_-a-26_1434846389008.jpg
State visit: Charles and Camilla's foreign trips include a visit to Canada (pictured) and to the US last year
Prince Charles and veterans pay homage on D-Day
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/06/06/video-undefined-1E88AA2200000578-13_636x358.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/06/20/19/085D865700000514-0-image-a-14_1434826429517.jpg
Prince Charles has undertaken three transatlantic trips, as well as trips to the Middle East and to France (pictured with the Queen) to mark the D-Day landings
In the past, courtiers have privately admitted the Prince needed to ‘substantially curb’ his use of gas-guzzling jets. One explained it as ‘a generational thing’, admitting the younger Royals were more inclined to board scheduled flights.
The Prince’s spending on air fares is in direct contrast to his son William, who often takes scheduled flights. Last December, he travelled to New York with his wife Kate on a scheduled British Airways flight, while the pair also flew to Mustique for a family holiday in February aboard a commercial aircraft.
In May last year, William chose to fly economy class on an American Airlines flight from Memphis to Dallas as he returned home from a friend’s wedding.
A passenger tweeted: ‘I am still amazed. Prince William flies [economy]. That’s pretty humble/awesome. Who knew?’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3132814/Charles-s-heir-miles-bill-soars-1million-Cost-green-Prince-s-globetrotting-risen-100-000-year-thanks-28-seat-luxury-jet.html#ixzz3dfgHxerJ