HC Deb 05 June 2000 vol 351 c22W
Dr. Julian Lewis

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when all three of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers will be operationally available. [121707]

Mr. Spellar

The three Royal Navy aircraft carriers, HMS Invincible, Illustrious and Ark Royal, undertake a rolling programme of operations and maintenance, to ensure that two ships are normally available for operational tasking. On current plans, all three would not be operationally available at the same time.