Rishi Sunak: domestic RAF UK flights more frequent than previous three British Prime Ministers


Alex Nelson
Fri, 11 August 2023 

Rishi Sunak boards a plane at Stansted Airport as he departs for the Aukus meeting in San Diego in March 2023 (Photo: Leon Neal - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The BBC has revealed that Rishi Sunak has utilised RAF jets and helicopters for domestic flights more frequently than the last three British prime ministers.

According to Ministry of Defence figures, during his first seven months in office, he took approximately one such flight per week.

Given his commitments to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, the prime minister has come under fire for acting hypocritically by taking short domestic flights. But Sunak has claimed that air travel is the "most effective use of my time".


In response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the BBC learned of the number of domestic flights on Command Support Air Transport aircraft, broken down per prime minister, between July 2016 and April 2023.

Command Support Air Transport is an RAF division - also known as 32 Squadron - that operates two Dassault Falcon 900LX planes and a helicopter, on which the PM and other ministers are flown domestically.

Over a 187-day period, Sunak boarded 23 domestic flights on these aircraft in total, or one every eight days on average. For comparison, Theresa May took one flight every 13 days, Boris Johnson every 20, and Liz Truss every 13 days (on average).

Of course, the briefness of Truss' tenure in Downing Street and the Covid-19 travel restrictions in place during the majority of Johnson's leadership are important considerations.

But separately, Sunak has accepted more than £70,000 in private plane and helicopter trips to Conservative Party events this year, and sometimes also has access to an RAF Voyager plane for international travel. The government also charters private flights aboard Titan Airways-operated planes.

Last month, Sunak argued that people who take the position that "no-one should take a plane" are "completely, and utterly wrong" in their handling of the issue of climate change.

Sunak's use of RAF aircraft for relatively short journeys to Newquay, Dover and Leeds this year has drawn criticism, with opponents questioning why he did not take the train instead.

The Labour Party's deputy leader Angela Rayner even went so far as to suggest Sunak may have violated the ministerial code, which states that he is expected to take scheduled flights unless "it is essential to travel by air."

Sunak said that honouring the UK's commitment to cut carbon emissions was "morally right" in his remarks at the COP27 climate summit last year. As part of worldwide efforts to prevent the worst effects of climate change, the UK has set a legally binding goal of attaining net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

As a result of burning fuel, flights produce greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2), which contribute to global warming. Domestic flights have the worst emissions per km travelled of any kind of transportation, and private aircraft frequently emit more CO2 than commercial aircraft.