Just looking at the press release posted by Goldie ref release of details on the MATS service at first glance it looks to be a bit of a fudge. The info can be found here: MATS Service
The overall costs look reasonable however the only flight times shown are for when Ministers are 'on board' even though the full route flown by the aircraft is shown which is very misleading. To the uneducated it seems like simply a matter of multiplying the hourly cost by the flight times given in the document and you have the cost of operating the aircraft. However, in some case the ministers didnt travel on the full routing and the rest of the flight time, even though costing money, appears to have been ignored.
Oversight or sharp pencil?
The overall costs look reasonable however the only flight times shown are for when Ministers are 'on board' even though the full route flown by the aircraft is shown which is very misleading. To the uneducated it seems like simply a matter of multiplying the hourly cost by the flight times given in the document and you have the cost of operating the aircraft. However, in some case the ministers didnt travel on the full routing and the rest of the flight time, even though costing money, appears to have been ignored.
Oversight or sharp pencil?