UK PM's new plane takes first flight in new Union Jack-themed paint job
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's aircraft took to the skies for the first time with its new paint job. In video captured by SkyNews, the Royal Air Force Voyager A330 exited the paint shop in Cambridgeshire and took its first flight.
The Airbus A330's new paint job, which reportedly $1.1 million (cost £900,000)— transformed the aircraft from a grey color with "Royal Air Force" written on the fuselage to this updated design to "better represent" the prime minister on official trips. The new livery features a predominantly white color with "United Kingdom" written on the fuselage. But the most striking feature of the new livery is the tailfin design, which features a Union Jack flag, with some of the coloring running as a streak down the side of the fuselage.
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You can watch the video of the RAF Voyager taking off from Cambridgeshire in the Sky News video below.
The RAF Voyager is the aircraft used by the prime minister, other ministers and senior members of the royal family when they travel on official engagements. The A330 is traditionally used for military purposes and was originally painted in grey to better camouflage the aircraft when it was on official defense missions.
Related: How does the royal family fly?
"This will mean that the plane can better represent the U.K. around the world with national branding, which will be in line with many other leaders' planes," a Downing Street spokesperson told The Guardian.
The RAF Voyager is one of a fleet of nine A330s used as transport and tankers for inflight refuelling of other aircraft. Then-prime minister David Cameron began using it in 2016, after a retrofitting that cost $12.4 million (£10 million).
Other world leaders are getting new or updated modes of transportation. In March, we got a first look at the new German Airbus A350, used to carry the chancellor, president and other high-level officials. And in the U.S., the president will get two new Air Force Ones when the very expensive modification of two civilian Boeing 747s is completed in 2024.
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