AirTanker and the £10.5bn Voyager deal: how the RAF ended up renting its own tankers

A clause in the contract requires all UK military air-to-air refuelling to go through AirTanker, and the deal runs to 2035. The RAF does not buy its tanker planes. It pays AirTanker, a company partly owned by Airbus, under a private finance initiative (PFI) contract signed in March 2008. In 2010 the Public Accounts Committee said the £10.5 billion project had not secured value for money.

#What is a PFI?

A PFI is a long-term contract in which a company pays for and runs a service the government needs, and the government pays it back over many years. The Voyagers are provided this way. AirTanker owns the planes, and the MoD pays for the capacity they provide.

#How did the Voyager deal start?

The Public Accounts Committee noted that, in "March 2008, the Ministry of Defence [...] signed a private finance initiative (PFI) contract with AirTanker Ltd, for the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) to provide air-to-air refuelling and passenger transport services."

Under the contract, industry invested about £2.7 billion.

AirTanker's building at Brize Norton houses the two RAF Voyager squadrons, 10 and 101 Squadrons, above company staff and RAF engineers who work alongside them.

#What did the committee conclude?

In 2010 the Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Margaret Hodge MP, said:

"Using PFI to procure the £10.5 billion Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) project was inappropriate and, in the view of this Committee, has not secured value for money. The Department's decision to use PFI was taken against a background of prevailing support for this procurement route. But that's no excuse for the Department's failure to conduct a robust evaluation of alternatives, a failure which should have been challenged by the Treasury."

The committee also said it "took the Department over nine years to negotiate a PFI contract", and that the delays "have led to considerable cost increases against initial estimates". It added: "Throughout the project the MOD has lacked the robust financial and performance data needed to make sensible decisions."

#How much did the Voyagers cost?

The BBC reported that the Voyager aircraft cost three times more than anticipated. BBC Newsnight said: "Contracts seen by Newsnight suggest the 14 planes could have been purchased for £50m each. Instead the RAF paid £150m for each plane as part of a leasing agreement."

#Who owns the Voyagers?

AirTanker owns the Voyagers, not the RAF. Surge aircraft carry civil registrations and can be leased out commercially, according to an annotated fleet listing.

The ownership question has practical effects. A commentator on a military aviation forum observed: "The basic problem is that the RAF/MoD/HMG do not 'own' any of the Voyagers. Airtanker do. Therefore the RAF cannot just decide to fit booms to some of the Voyagers, because they aren't the RAF's property."

AirTanker's consortium shareholders have included Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Thales and Babcock. Rolls-Royce sold its stake in 2021, reportedly in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air travel (Sky News). See the partners behind AirTanker.

#Why does the contract matter now?

A report from King's College London argues that, "as the RAF continues to modernise its capabilities and procure new aircraft types, more platforms require the flying boom method to refuel, meaning the Voyager is increasingly limited in what it can support." The report also says the RAF depends on the US Air Force, which has a wider fleet of refuelling tankers.

The report links the problem to money. It says that "the primary obstacle to acquiring booms had been financial", and that this has "undermin[ed] the overall credibility of the British armed forces, and in particular the RAF as a force capable of undertaking sovereign action."

Two of the Voyagers based at Brize Norton were damaged in June 2025. For the technical side, see the boom problem and US dependence. For the damage to those two planes, see the damage figures.