§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the target availability of the Hercules fleet required to enable it to meet its budgeted flying hours requirement.
§ Mr. FreemanAircraft availability dictates the number of aircraft that are available for tasking to meet commitments on any particular day. This is not linked directly to the budgeted annual flying hours requirement as each aircraft does not necessarily fly the same number of hours.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact on budgeted flying hours if his Department proceeds with its plan to offer up for sale up to 10 of the older aircraft.
§ Mr. FreemanThere is no plan to offer for sale any of the Hercules fleet. An advertisement was placed by my Department in September to assess the potential market for RAF Hercules should they become available for sale.
§ Mr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what have been the budgeted flying hours for Hercules C130 fleet in each of the last three years.
§ Mr. FreemanBudgeted flying hours are as follows:
1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 Hercules air transport aircraft 33,990 33,990 34,058 Hercules tanker aircraft 2,901 2,901 2,901 There has been an increase in the number of budgeted flying hours for Hercules air transport aircraft this year to accommodate reservist aircrew flying trials.