TWO customised aircraft for the exclusive use of prime ministers, the Cabinet and the Queen have been ordered by Tony Blair.

The second-hand jets, a modified Boeing 737 for long-haul flights and a smaller aircraft for European jaunts, will be leased at a cost to the taxpayer of £12 million a year.

But the Prime Minister is unlikely to be around long enough to enjoy the maiden voyage of the fleet, certain to be labelled “Blair Force One”.

Although the tendering process is already under way, the planes will not come into service until late next year at the earliest, months after the date the Prime Minister is expected to stand down.

That means that Gordon Brown is the most likely beneficiary of Mr Blair’s largesse.

Downing Street sources said that the decision to go ahead with the new fleet was one “only an outgoing prime minister could make”. One said: “It is his successors who will benefit, and in the long term it will save money.”

It brings to an end more than 30 years of agonised debate over whether ministers should have their own fleet of planes. Governments have shied away from the problem, fearing public outrage over the cost.

However, the aircraft used by RAF 32 Squadron, previously known as the Queen’s Flight, are now so old that Mr Blair has been increasingly forced into the commercial charter market to hire whatever was available at short notice.

Commercial jets often have no specialist communications equipment on board and are sometimes unavailable in the holiday season, resulting in a last-minute panic in Downing Street if a trip has to be arranged in the summer.

Things came to a head in February when Mr Blair had a near miss in Johannesburg airport. The engine of a privately chartered 36-year-old DC8 blew up just before take-off. The Prime Minister had to wait 12 hours for the next British Airways scheduled flight, missing a key Commons vote.

Last week Mr Blair also suffered the ignominy of arriving in Brussels for a European summit in an aircraft with an Austrian flag painted on the side, the only one available for hire.

The two aircraft will be chartered on a permanent lease by No 10 for the Government and Royal Family. The Queen and her family will have first refusal if their plans conflict with the Prime Minister’s.

Customised for their use with extra security features, modern communications, ample electrical power and a bedroom, Blair Force One will be a vast improvement on the Queen’s Flight, and its VC10 workhorse in particular. Cramped, hot and noisy, its backward-facing seats were a problem for those prone to travel sickness and even short hops took hours as the heavy 1960s airliner struggled to get up any speed.

But the VC10 was the scene of many historic moments, most memorably when Margaret Thatcher, in the back of the cabin, said she would go “on and on and on”. She also ordered it to “fly on” when told by the pilot he had received a warning that a bomb was on board.

Mr Blair has travelled more than any other Prime Minister. Figures released in April showed that he has used the Queen’s Flight alone on 677 occasions since 1997, including on some family holidays.

Chris Grayling, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said: “It sends totally the wrong message for ministers to be spending millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on two new, official planes at a time when jobs are being cut in the NHS.

“This reinforces the impression of a Government that is . . . too concerned with the trappings of office rather than getting on with the job.”

Industry speculation yesterday suggested that Mr Blair may resist calls to buy European and go for a US-made aircraft on cost grounds.

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