As the Air Force awaits the arrival of its new billion-dollar-plus versions of the Boeing 747-8 to replace the current aircraft used as the primary Air Force One, other countries are sorting out their own solutions to the “executive transport” requirement. The citizens of the U.K. and Canada are much less enthusiastic about ensuring their leaders are swaddled in the latest comfort and technology when they travel and the leaders are taking some heat for some comparatively modest investments. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants the Royal Air Force Voyager, a tanker based on the A330, he uses for international travel painted in Union Jack red, white and blue instead of the gunmetal grey that’s in fashion for military aircraft. The $1.3 million paint job proposed for the aircraft, which functions as a tanker most of the time and has a section with business class seats installed for Johnson and members of the royal family, has become a political hot potato. Meanwhile, in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under the gun for a different reason that has the same genesis in the perception of privilege and luxury.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/u-k-debates-prime-ministerial-paint-job