Britain is to spend up to £10 million ($15 million, 14 million euros) converting a military plane for official use by Prime Minister David Cameron, Downing Street confirmed Thursday. The government argues that having an aircraft similar to the US president's Air Force One, which could also be used by the royal family and senior ministers, will save money in the long term.
It will give more details of its plans to refit a Royal Air Force (RAF) A330 Voyager plane, currently used for air-to-air refuelling missions, in its security and defence review on Monday. The plane, for use on official visits, will be fitted out with nearly 60 business class seats out of a total of 160 and will also get secure communications facilities to allow the prime minister to work on board. Downing Street said that while the refit would cost £10 million it would end up saving taxpayers £775,000 a year. Cameron's spokeswoman said the plane would enter service "as soon as possible" and was expected to be in use for 20 years.