David Cameron, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom, has recently come under fire for his use of a private jet. Cameron had been touring Central Asia over a five-day trip. Over the course of the week, Cameron racked up a bill of over $40 million, which many have criticized, saying that it was a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Tour around Central Asia

The foreign secretary has been traveling across Central Asia on a tour that spanned approximately five days, per The Guardian. This included stops and visits to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. These visits were meant to promote business opportunities for British businesses. The tour also promoted the recent announcement of £50 million for new funding to support the sovereignty and independence of states across the region, per The Guardian.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

For his tour around the continent, Cameron and his team chartered an Embraer Lineage 1000, which is one of the world’s most elegant private jets. This specific jet was chartered by Union Aviation and includes a relaxation zone with a couch onboard the plane. The shadow attorney general, Emmily Thornberry, released a statement on social media regarding the use of the expensive private jet.

In response to Thornberry’s comments and the public backlash, a spokesperson at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office released a statement to The Guardian. This statement read,

“The foreign secretary’s job requires him to travel abroad to pursue the UK’s interests. This was the most time effective way to do this in this instance. Value for money is taken into account in all travel decisions and costs are routinely published for transparency.”

About the Embraer Lineage 1000

As previously mentioned, the Lineage 1000 is one of the world’s most luxurious business jets and is found in the ultra-long-range business jet market. The aircraft was initially introduced by Embraer in 2006. It was marketed as a private jet variant of the popular regional airliner, the Embraer E190. However, this jet added fuel tanks in the lower cargo hold, which increased the jet’s total range.

Overall, the aircraft has the following specifications:

Embraer produced only 28 of these business jets from 2007 to 2017. However, in 2020, the Pakistan Navy selected ten of these jets to replace its current maritime patrol jets, meaning converted jets were to be delivered to Pakistan. Its typical sale price was consistently around $50 million. Liberty Jet