Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to get a commercial flight to London for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral despite being asked to do so by the UK government.
Heads of states and their partners were asked to travel on commercial flights to England for the funeral but the man who has come to be known as ‘Airbus Albo’ for his repeated overseas trips, is not falling into line.
Instead, Mr Albanese will be on the Royal Australian Air Force’s VIP jet for the flight to the UK.
Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon board a Royal Australian Air Force flight. Mr Albanese will not be getting a commercial flight to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, despite being asked to do so by the UK goverment
‘They’re longstanding plans for myself and the Governor-General (David Hurley) to travel to London and we’ll be doing so on Thursday night,’ Mr Albanese told the ABC.
His deputy Richard Marles said Australian prime ministers never took commercial flights because of security concerns.
‘That has to be the paramount consideration here. And I might add that that’s not just a consideration from the point of view of the security of the prime minister, it’s also about the security of the public,’ Mr Marles told ABC’s Radio National.
Foreign leaders using helicopters to get around while in the UK has also been banned, according to documents obtained by Politico.
Documents obtained by Politico revealed foreign heads of states and their spouses were asked to travel on commercial flights and that the use of helicopters to get around had been banned.
The world leaders attending will instead be bussed around London.