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£10m plans: David CameronPM David Cameron and his ministers are to have their own jet for official visits.
A former RAF air-to-air refuelling jet will get a £10million conversion to take the Prime Minister on long trips abroad.
Ministers will argue that the use of the A330 Voyager will save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year charter costs hiring airliners from commercial carriers.
Plans: An A330 VoyagerBut the move is likely to prove highly controversial as Chancellor George Osborne prepares to unveil further deep cuts in next weeks spending review.
It will draw inevitable comparisons with Tony Blair 's plans for a prime ministerial jet - dubbed Blair Force One - which was ultimately blocked by Gordon Brown.
The plan will be formally set out in the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review on Monday.
Government sources estimate that the change will save the taxpayer £775,000 a year in charter charges.
Currently Downing Street spends £6,700 per flying hour on the Prime Minister's travel, but that is expected to come down to £2,000 under the new arrangements.
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Budget: A Twitter user spotted Mr Cameron on an easyJet flightIn one trip alone, No 10 had to pay £100,000 to hire an aircraft at short notice to take Mr Cameron and members of the Royal Family to the funeral of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
A government spokesman said: "As part of the Government's defence review, we have been looking at ways to make better use of the RAF fleet to transport senior ministers and consequently deliver savings for taxpayers.
"We have decided to adapt one of our existing Voyager aircraft so that, in addition to its primary air tanking role, it can transport ministers and it will also be available for the Royal Family to use."
"In terms of reducing the travelling costs we are looking at moving away from long-distance chartering," one source said.
Mirror.co.uk
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