Category:'Global Britain' (aircraft livery)

The main aim of the new 'Global Britain' colour scheme is to "promote the UK around the world while transporting Ministers, senior members of the Royal Family and their delegations on trade, diplomatic and other missions".^[1]

Principal VIP aircraft

The 'Global Britain' livery was originally designed with assistance from Airbus, and first used in June 2020 on a Royal Air Force (RAF) Voyager KC3 multi-role tanker transport (British variant of the Airbus A330 MRTT (A330-243 MRTT), a specialised military conversion of the Airbus A330-200 (A330-243) wide-body civilian airliner), based at RAF Brize Norton (IATA: BZZ, ICAO: EGVN) in Oxfordshire, military aircraft registration ZZ336 (construction number 1363), previously VIP-converted in July 2016; and included fifty-eight (58) business class seats in the front cabin and one-hundred (100) 'premium economy' standard seats in the rear cabin, from the Voyager standard seating capacity of 291 'premium economy' seats (but originally retaining its military low-visibility matt-grey exterior paint scheme). After the 'Global Britain' livery was applied in June 2020, ZZ336 was given the name Vespina by the RAF. The entire rebrand (undertaken during pre-programmed scheduled major servicing and mid-life upgrades) cost about £900,000.^[2][3]

Additional VIP aircraft

In 2021, additional aircraft were also re-liveried to 'Global Britain' to supplement Vespina for smaller delegations. Operated by Titan Airways on behalf of the UK Government and based at London Stansted Airport (IATA: STN, ICAO: EGSS) in Essex, a smaller Airbus A320-200neo VIP-configured aircraft, registration G-XATW, was painted in the 'Global Britain' livery. In April 2022, G-XATW was subsequently replaced by an identical specification A320-200neo, registered G-GBNI (as a reference to Great Britain and Northern Ireland). The A320-200neo G-GBNI was then replaced in November 2023 by a newer Airbus A321-253neo airframe, gaining the G-GBNI registration (the former A320-200neo G-GBNI was then re-registered G-OATW) also in the 'Global Britain' livery.

In February 2022, a pair of Dassault Falcon 900LX business tri-jets: G-ZABH (construction number 327) and G-ZAHS (construction number 326) were acquired and painted in the same 'Global Britain' livery. Based at RAF Northolt (IATA: NHT, ICAO: EGWU) in Greater London, these are operated by Centreline Air Charter (IATA: CLF) for the Royal Air Force.

References