£10m RAF jet for Prime Minister's global visits

David Cameron and other senior ministers will get the use of a dedicated RAF aircraft to take them on official visits around the world.

An A330 Voyager plane - usually used as to refuel fighter jets in mid-air - will be converted into a ministerial transport for use on long haul flights.

Ministers argue that the conversion will save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in charter costs.

Government sources estimate that the change will save the taxpayer £775,000 a year in charges from commercial airlines.

In one trip alone, No 10 had to pay £100,000 to hire an aircraft at short notice to take Mr Cameron and members of the Royal Family to the funeral of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

File photo of a Voyager aircraft conducting in-flight refueling. Credit: RAF

But the move is likely to prove highly controversial as Chancellor George Osborne prepares to unveil further deep cuts in next week's spending review.

It will draw inevitable comparisons with Tony Blair's plans for a prime ministerial jet - dubbed Blair Force One - which was ultimately blocked by Gordon Brown.

The plan will be formally set out in the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review on Monday.

A government spokesman said:

Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland, said the move was "about one out of ten for timing" as the government implements further austerity cuts.