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While the most famous VIP aeroplane in the world
would be the USA’s Air Force One, other countries also have their own
VIP transports for government officials. Japan, China, Argentina, Brazil
and Australia all have their own VIP jets, some are dedicated to the leader
of the country and others are used as a mixed use VIP jet operated by the
military.
Australia’s RAAF have operated an Australian VIP jet fleet for several
years, know as the RAAF's Special Purpose fleet, it is used by the Prime Minister, Governor General, Foreign Minister
and the British Royal family (when in Australia). Originally a fleet of 4 707s were purchased used
from Qantas between 1979 and 1983 that served as both VIP and military
transport aircraft, a further 2 refurbished 707s were ordered from
Boeing in 1987 and in 1990 some of the earlier fleet was converted to
air to air tankers.
The 707 fleet used by the RAAF were phased out for VIP use in 2002 when
they were well past their economical use date. The 707s were expensive
to run compared to more modern planes in fuel and maintenance, as well
as the fact that the 707 requires the use of 3 flight deck crew compared
with 737s which require only 2 flight deck crew. Other problems included
the fact the 707 doesn’t comply with existing noise regulations, this
made visiting foreign countries hard as special permission needed to be
granted for the 707 to land as some airports. One of the RAAF's 707
tankers was lost with five crew off the coast of Victoria in 1991.
In 2002 the RAAF took delivery of two Boeing Business Jets for use as
their VIP transport planes, based on the 737 these craft are fitted out
with 36 seats that can be converted down to 30 when additional
conference tables are added. Additional fuel tanks give the BBJ a lot
longer range than the 737 its based on, as well as the addition of
winglets to the main wings giving it a 5 to 7% increase in efficiency.
The RAAF have also chosen the BBJ as the basis of their AEW&C radar
project known as wedgetail. The BBJs are leased to the RAAF and
maintained by Qantas while Virgin Blue provide some training facilities
for the RAAF, both airlines operate 737s which are identical to the
Business Jets.
The RAAF also replaced their Falcon 400s in 2002 when their lease expired
with the similar size Bombardier CL604. Designed to seat around 9
people, the twin jet CL604 has a range of 6,236 km and uses a crew of
two pilots and up to two crew attendants. The RAAF's 3 CL604s like the
BBJs are maintained and leased to the RAAF by Qantas.
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