Boris Johnson’s new Union Flag-painted RAF Voyager is scrambled to support fighter jets in Scotland as Russian aircraft approached UK airspace
- RAF Voyager joins Quick Response Action with jets from RAF Lossiemouth today
- Operation comes one week after returning to the skies following repaint job
- The Ministry of Defence said no interception was required during the operation
- Voyager then made a return to its base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
Boris Johnson’s new Union Flag-painted RAF Voyager was today scrambled to support fighter jets in Scotland as Russian aircraft approached UK airspace.
The Voyager joined the Quick Response Action with jets from RAF Lossiemouth early this morning, a week after returning to the skies following the repaint job.
The Ministry of Defence said no interception was required during the operation and the Voyager made a return to its base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
A Lossiemouth spokesman said the Voyagers can be tasked to ‘provide air-to-air refuelling or they can be tasked to transport personnel or freight’.
The repainted Voyager was pictured last Friday during its first operational tasking, by tanking RAF Lightning and Typhoon fighters during Exercise Crimson Ocean.
The RAF Voyager is pictured last Friday during its first operational tasking, by tanking RAF Lightning and Typhoon fighters during Exercise Crimson Ocean
The RAF Voyager, known as Vespina and also often referred to as ‘ZZ336’, is pictured last week
The MoD spent £900,000 on the makeover for the PM’s trips around the world. The once grey-coloured aircraft now displays the Union Flag alongside RAF markings.
It will be used by the PM, other ministers, and senior members of the Royal Family.
One source had described the paint-job as ‘Austin Powers’ style, referring to the hit comedy films featuring a British spy, played by Mike Myers, who drives a Jaguar E-type in the colours of the Union Jack.
The aircraft, known as Vespina and also often referred to as ‘ZZ336’ which is its military registration number, was previously visually indistinguishable from the rest of the Operational Voyager Fleet.
This external paint scheme will better reflect its VIP missions and contribution to ‘Global Britain’, the MoD said.
The repainted RAF Voyager is pictured during its first operational tasking last Friday
The MoD spent £900,000 on the makeover for the Prime Minister’s trips around the world
The cost of the respray which was undertaken at an airport in Cambridgeshire was condemned by opposition politicians when it was revealed last month.
The SNP criticised it as an ‘utterly unacceptable use of public funds’.
The interior of the Voyager had a £10million makeover in 2016, when David Cameron was prime minister.
An RAF source said the plane could be changed back to grey ‘very quickly’ if deemed necessary in a wartime scenario.
The source noted that planes were painted a sandy shade of pink for the Gulf wars.
The Voyager will be used by the PM, other ministers, and senior members of the Royal Family
The RAF Voyager on the runway at Cambridge Airport last Thursday following the repaint job
In May 2018 Mr Johnson asked why the Voyager needed to be grey as he said he needed his own plane in order to boost Britain’s post-Brexit trade prospects.
Speaking when he was foreign secretary, he said he and other Cabinet ministers needed another aircraft as the Voyager, used by Mr Cameron when he was prime minister, was rarely available.
He said: ‘What I will say about the Voyager, I think it’s great, but it seems to be very difficult to get hold of… I don’t know who uses it, but it never seems to be available.’
Mr Johnson added that it was ‘striking’ such a plane did not yet exist and suggested that it could be a different colour.
He added: ‘And also, why does it have to be grey? The taxpayers won’t want us to have some luxurious new plane. But I certainly think it’s striking that we don’t seem to have access to such a thing at the moment.’