Since the creation of The King's Flight by King Edward VIII in 1936, there has been a Royal Air Force Unit who are responsible for providing air transport for the Royal Family's official duties.
The King's Flight was initially formed at RAF Hendon, then moved to RAF Benson, where it was disbanded during the Second World War. In 1946, the unit was re-formed with four Vickers Viking Aircraft.
In 1952, after the accession of The Queen, the unit was re-named 'The Queen's Flight' and the Vikings gradually replaced by de Havilland Herons and Whirlwind Helicopters.
Eventually the unit came to use the British Aerospace 146 and Hawker S125 aircraft which are still in use today. In addition, the Household operates a privately leased helicopter, the Sikorsky S-76, which replaced the Wessex HCC4 helicopters that had been operated by the squadron.
After her last flight aboard the Wessex helicopter, The Queen wrote a personal note of thanks to the crew, saying:
"I and my family deeply appreciate the efforts of all those who have operated and serviced them [the Wessex helicopters] for over twenty-eight years. I have great pleasure therefore, in sending everyone concerned my gratitude, together with my best wishes for the future."
In 1995, The Queen's Flight was moved from RAF Benson to RAF Northolt and combined with No. 32 Squadron. It is now formally known as No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron. Aircraft of No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron have a distinctive red, white and blue livery.
There are two four-engined BAe 146s (carrying 19-23 passengers) and five twin-engined HS 125s (carrying up to 7 passengers).
There are certain guidelines concerning members of the Royal Family flying together. The agreed policy is that The Queen will never fly with The Prince of Wales and that it would be undesirable for The Prince of Wales to fly with either Prince William or Prince Harry.
Should The Prince of Wales wish to fly with his sons or should Prince William and Prince Harry need to fly together for some reason, then permission is sought from The Queen.
This has been the case on rare occasions. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother for example, The Prince of Wales flew back to the United Kingdom from Switzerland with both Prince William and Prince Harry.
The squadron is often used abroad as well. If there are many legs to a journey within another country, then 32 Squadron may well fly out in advance to provide that service.
One other option is to use the local air force. A recent example of this was in Australia when the Australian Air Force undertook to fly The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh to various engagements around the country.
When it is considered that in the course of that two week visit of March 2002, which comprised Jamaica, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were in the air for nearly 70 hours and landed at 14 different airfields, the importance of Royal travel by air becomes clear. Charter aircraft may also be used abroad, depending on what is available and the costs involved.
The squadron is not just concerned with flying the Royal Family however. The Ministry of Defence is ultimately responsible for all flights and routes and the squadron is often called into service to provide air transport to senior commanders in an operational theatre.
The squadron provides air transport for the Prime Minister, senior ministers and other senior serving officers and it is these duties that account for most of their time. Royal air travel only accounts for around 15% of the squadron's duties.
The cost of Royal travel by air is met by the Royal Travel Grant-in-aid and detailed breakdowns of costs and expenses are available in the accounts published annually by the Royal Household. View last year's travel accounts.
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