In December, the MoD advertised a tender for a new contract for what is officially known as the Rotary Wing Command Support Air Transport Helicopter Service, worth between £30m and £40m, and running to the end of 2027.
With provision for up to 500 hours of use a year, the contractor would provide helicopters, crewed by RAF personnel and based at the Northolt airbase in west London, to take them any distance up to 250 miles.
However, Sunak has been criticised for helicopter trips of little more than 100 miles (160km), to places easily reachable by train, and it is possible that ministers were fearful of a backlash if they signed a contract costing £30m or more.
The PM’s helicopter addiction has cut through with the public as proof not just that he is totally out of touch, but that he doesn’t think he should have to use the same roads and railways as the rest of us.
In May, he flew to and from Southampton to visit a pharmacy for an NHS-related announcement, a 160-mile round trip where the train takes an hour and 15 minutes each way.
For personal use, the prime minister previously took private helicopters from London to his North Yorkshire constituency, and to visit the billionaire Arora family, who live 2 miles from Manchester airport.
The original article contains 484 words, the summary contains 220 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In December, the MoD advertised a tender for a new contract for what is officially known as the Rotary Wing Command Support Air Transport Helicopter Service, worth between £30m and £40m, and running to the end of 2027.
With provision for up to 500 hours of use a year, the contractor would provide helicopters, crewed by RAF personnel and based at the Northolt airbase in west London, to take them any distance up to 250 miles.
However, Sunak has been criticised for helicopter trips of little more than 100 miles (160km), to places easily reachable by train, and it is possible that ministers were fearful of a backlash if they signed a contract costing £30m or more.
The PM’s helicopter addiction has cut through with the public as proof not just that he is totally out of touch, but that he doesn’t think he should have to use the same roads and railways as the rest of us.
In May, he flew to and from Southampton to visit a pharmacy for an NHS-related announcement, a 160-mile round trip where the train takes an hour and 15 minutes each way.
For personal use, the prime minister previously took private helicopters from London to his North Yorkshire constituency, and to visit the billionaire Arora family, who live 2 miles from Manchester airport.
The original article contains 484 words, the summary contains 220 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!