---

21 July 2009 : Column 1200W—continued

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his most recent estimate is of the cost per flying hour of a (a) Tornado and (b) Typhoon jet. [284989]

Mr. Quentin Davies: I will write to the hon. Member.

Substantive answer from Quentin Davies to Nick Harvey:

I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question of the 13 July 2009 (Official Report, column 27W), asking for the most recent estimate of the cost per flying hour of a (a) Tornado and (b) Typhoon-jet. I apologise for the delay in replying.

The total cost per funded flying hour is provided in the table below.

Aircraft	Cost (K) Financial Year 2009-10
Tornado F3	45K
Tornado GR4	28K
Typhoon	90K

This includes forward and depth servicing, fuel costs, crew costs, training costs and the cost of capital charge and depreciation. The Typhoon cost per flying hour reflects the smaller numbers of aircraft currently in the fleet and their relatively short period in service. This is expected to reduce significantly over the in-service life of the aircraft.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) planned and (b) actual average flying hours for each helicopter type in the (i) Army, (ii) Royal Navy and (iii) Royal Air Force were in each month of (A) 2008 and (B) 2009 to date. [279960]

Bill Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister for the Armed Forces on 7 January 2008, Official Report, column 44W.

Between November 2006 and April 2009, we have increased flying hours for helicopters in Afghanistan by 84 per cent.

The following tables give the total planned and actual flying hours, including training as well as operations, for each helicopter type by month from January 2008 to May 2009:

21 July 2009 : Column 1201W

21 July 2009 : Column 1202W

Army Air Corps
	Apache		Augusta		Gazelle		Lynx Mk7/9
	Planned	Actual	Planned	Actual	Planned	Actual	Planned	Actual
2008
January	1,119	861	80	67	1,186	706	1,152	1,341
February	1,259	1,270	90	68	1,334	937	1,296	1,685
March	1,259	1,096	90	89	1,334	968	1,296	1,581
April	1,152	1,085	80	100	875	1,007	1,655	1,543
May	1,058	1,110	90	73	984	1,092	1,428	1,184
June	1,152	1,180	90	94	984	1,325	1,428	1,381
July	1,199	1,195	90	155	984	1,340	1,428	1,465
August	1,246	1,231	60	83	656	1,046	1,057	885
September	1,199	1,459	100	122	1,094	1,104	1,552	1,529
October	1,293	1,171	90	104	984	1,070	1,778	1,578
November	1,340	1,067	80	61	875	726	1,655	1,707
December	920	947	60	66	656	442	1,407	1,022
2009
January	1,249	1,112	80	46	875	440	1,655	1,293
February	1,202	1,217	90	56	984	514	1,778	1,343
March	1,390	1,657	90	72	984	564	1,778	1,880
April	1,320	940	80	100	495	565	1,559	1,532
May	1,151	936	90	49	549	647	1,376	802

Royal Navy
	Lynx Mk3		Lynx Mk8		Merlin Mk1
	Planned	Actual	Planned	Actual	Planned	Actual
2008
January	555	537	555	421	387	332
February	555	658	555	513	387	280
March	555	447	555	490	366	142
April	200	439	200	548	199	295
May	555	469	555	463	334	232
June	555	588	555	541	334	214
July	555	658	555	432	334	189
August	200	198	200	164	198	38
September	560	619	560	570	334	283
October	555	600	555	403	334	396
November	555	609	555	343	334	150
December	200	429	200	287	198	142
2009
January	334	207	555	456	856	439
February	334	205	555	339	1,006	484
March	203	177	555	395	950	631
April	342	153	190	377	600	513
May	517	485	517	388	980	603

---