§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of his return flight from the Falklands to the United Kingdom by Nimrod; and what is the average cost of transporting a member of the armed services from the Falkland Islands to the United Kingdom (a) by air by Hercules, (b) by air and sea and (c) by sea.
§ Mr. Stanley[pursuant to his answer, 26 January 1984]: The Nimrod by which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence returned from the Falklands to the United Kingdom was coming back from an operational detachment and no additional cost arose.
Movement of personnel and freight to and from the Falklands is carried out by means of MOD-owned aircraft and ships and chartered aircraft and ships, often with passengers and freight combined on the one journey. It is not possible therefore to provide precise estimates of average costs for service personnel travelling by different 719W methods. The normal method of return from the Falklands for service personnel is by either MOD-owned or chartered ship to Ascension island and then by RAF VCIO to the United Kingdom. The average passenger cost for such a journey depends on the operating costs of the ships concerned. This information is not available as the costs are not in all respects attributable to individual vessels. The other method is by RAF Hercules to Ascension island and then by VC10 to the United Kingdom, for which the average extra cost to the Department per passenger is some £650.