Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether RAF personnel have been involved in the running and marketing of the civilian operation at RAF Northolt; how much in staff (a) time and (b) costs is spent on managing and marketing civilian flights; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

Our multi-activity contractor runs the Commercial Booking Cell on behalf of the Royal Air Force (RAF), to co-ordinate and book civilian aircraft slots at RAF Northolt. RAF operations and Air Traffic Control staffs are utilised for civilian aircraft movements within the irreducible spare capacity of these areas. From 2011 to 2015 one Executive Officer civil servant spent approximately 20% of their working week undertaking administrative business management functions of commercial bookings. From October 2015, this became a full-time Executive Officer post.