From Brize Norton to Gaza: the chain of support, link by link

Flight tracking records 421 Voyager flights between RAF Brize Norton and RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus from 7 October 2023 to the protest on 20 June 2025. The chain has five links, each drawn from flight tracking, parliamentary answers or published reporting. The records show where planes went and when, but not what they carried, what each sortie was for, or whether the base took part in any specific strike.

#Link 1: Brize Norton to Akrotiri

Brize Norton is the starting point for RAF flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Britain's main base for operations in the Middle East (Boston Globe/AP). Flight tracking shows the two bases linked almost every day.

Local Voyager sorties from Akrotiri rose from 5–39 a month in 2024 to 54–61 a month in March–May 2025. Flight tracking also records 524 local Voyager sorties from Akrotiri over the same period, from 7 October 2023 to the protest.

The Voyagers are provided to the RAF by AirTanker, a private company. AirTanker keeps two permanent operating bases in Cyprus, according to The High Ground podcast. Some of these sorties may have supported UK operations against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

#Link 2: Akrotiri to Gaza

RAF 14 Squadron's Shadow R1 surveillance planes, which operate from Akrotiri, flew at least 518 flights over or near Gaza between 3 December 2023 and 27 March 2025. Each lasted five to six hours, according to Declassified UK and Action on Armed Violence (AOAV). AOAV later put the total at 606, according to Declassified UK.

A flight-tracking analysis of the three Shadow R1 callsigns (RFR7143–RFR7145) gives 520 Gaza flights by 27 March 2025, 571 before the protest and 590 in total, the last on 25 July 2025. The counts come from different sources, so they should not be added together.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has repeatedly said that RAF surveillance flights over Gaza are only to find hostages. It has refused to say what intelligence was gathered or who it was shared with. The RAF Shadow R1 flights article sets out the detail.

#Link 3: Akrotiri to Israel

The MoD confirmed that the RAF flew 32 flights from Akrotiri to Israel in the seven weeks after 7 October 2023. A Shadow R1 also landed in Israel for two hours on 13 February 2024, according to Declassified UK.

The Voyager tracking data shows no Voyager flights to Israeli airports, so this link should not be read as a tanker link.

#Link 4: Israeli planes at Brize Norton

Israeli Air Force (IAF) planes, including refuelling aircraft, used Brize Norton repeatedly during the war. The government admitted in February 2024 that nine IAF planes had landed in and taken off from British territory since 7 October 2023. Declassified UK reported that at least nine more landed at Brize Norton between September 2024 and June 2025.

The visits are covered in Israeli Air Force planes at RAF Brize Norton.

#Link 5: Voyagers sent to Cyprus

The war between Israel and Iran began on 13 June 2025. The UK then sent extra Voyager tankers and Typhoon fighter jets to Cyprus, according to PTI. Both damaged Voyagers were among the aircraft at Akrotiri that week, as covered in the flight records of ZZ338 and ZZ343.

AirTanker's chief executive has also said the company played its part in the UK's response to recent Houthi and Iranian drone attacks in the Middle East (The High Ground podcast).

#What the government has confirmed

The government has confirmed some of these links and declined to give others, including the total number of Israeli planes that have passed through Britain since February 2024. For the protest itself, see what happened at RAF Brize Norton.