AirTanker Services, operating as AirTanker, is a British aircraft leasing company providing a fleet of

Airbus A330 MRTT The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a European aerial refuelling and military transport aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330. A total of 16 countries have placed firm orders for approximately 68 aircraft, of which 51 h ...

tanker/transports, known by the service name "Voyager", to the Royal Air Force for the aerial refuelling role. For additional revenue it operates air charter flights using reserve aircraft. It is a

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources ...

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

, Rolls-Royce plc, Cobham plc, Babcock International and

Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Pari ...

History

In 2008 the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

signed the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) contract with AirTanker to provide the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) with an air transport and air-to-air refuelling capability. As well as supporting the RAF, AirTanker holds a United Kingdom

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Following the granting of an air operating licence the airline flew its first charter flight to

RAF Akrotiri RAF Akrotiri ( el, Βασιλική Πολεμική Αεροπορία Ακρωτηρίου) is a large Royal Air Force base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which compri ...

in Cyprus for the UK Ministry of Defence in January 2013. After delays in certification, its first operational refuelling flight took place on 20 May 2013. From May 2015, AirTanker leased one aircraft to

Thomas Cook Airlines Thomas Cook Airlines Limited was a British charter and scheduled airline headquartered in Manchester, England. It was founded in 2007 from the merger of Thomas Cook Group and MyTravel Group, and was part of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines. ...

to be deployed on holiday routes. The contract ran for three years, and involved mainly long haul flights from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and

London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations a ...

. The first commercial flight took place on 1 May 2015 from Manchester to Cancun and

Punta Cana Punta Cana is a resort town in the easternmost region of the Dominican Republic. It is part of the Veron–Punta Cana municipal district, in the Higüey municipality of La Altagracia Province. According to the 2010 census, this district had a p ...

. On 30 September 2016, AirTanker reached the final establishment phase milestone in the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme with the achievement of Full Service Date on time and on budget delivering all 14 aircraft. AirTanker also provides twice-weekly scheduled passenger flights between RAF Brize Norton and RAF Mount Pleasant on the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

mainly for military personnel, though fare-paying passengers are also allowed to travel. These flights formerly refuelled at

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of ...

but due to the condition of the runway there, the refuelling stop is now at

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

. However, in June 2020 G-VYGM set a record by flying direct from Brize Norton to Mount Pleasant without refuelling.

Fleet

G-VYGK Airbus A330-243 Thomas Cook Airlines UK MAN 02MAY15

AirTanker has a 27-year contract to provide fourteen aircraft: "core" fleet of nine aircraft – eight with military serials and one civilian registration – and a "surge" fleet of five civil registered aircraft which it uses for additional revenue.RAF
"Voyager"
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 2012 Airbus joint ventures