Military Aircraft: Operating Costs

Ann Winterton
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the hourly operating cost including crew time is for (a) Nimrod MR2, (b) Chinook, (c) Apache and (d) Tornado GR4 aircraft.

Mr. Bob Ainsworth
The total cost per funded flying hour is shown in the table as follows:

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|Aircraft   |Cost (£)|
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|Tornado GR4|33,000  |
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|Nimrod     |30,000  |
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|Chinook    |24,000  |
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|Apache     |46,000  |
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This includes forward and depth servicing, fuel costs, crew costs, training costs and the cost of capital charge and depreciation.