Defence forces and Ministerial Air Transport up for tender!!!

Morpheus

http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG378395

The provision of the Ministerial Air Transport Service, for the safe passage of, inter alia, the President of Ireland, Government Ministers, Senior Officials of Government Departments and other dignitaries.

Defence Forces Air Movements, for the safe air movement of Defence Force personnel, their equipment and other military material in respect of the Defence Forces participation in deployed operations and training exercises abroad;

Contingency and Evacuation Services, where a need arises to evacuate Irish citizens overseas whether in the event of natural disasters, civil disturbance, political unrest or otherwise

wildfowler94

In lay mans terms?:o

Donny5

wildfowler94 wrote: »

In lay mans terms?:o

Well, MATS in currently a role provided by the Air Corps and its government jet. The tender for the provision of this service may indicate that the Air Corps will lose this role along with the aircraft involved. It could also be a tender for supplemental air services where the Air Corps aircraft are either unsuitable or not financially feasible for the task.

Morpheus

they wont lose the jet, they currently use it as the only really viable state owned asset which can be used as a long distance air ambulance. you'll notice that role is not in the tender. also getting politicians to use alternative transport not flown by the defence forces crews, could mean the casa will now be available for 24hr SAR topcover. my gut feeling however is that the AC will tender for and win part of this tender and keep the status quo.

Donny5

Morphéus wrote: »

they wont lose the jet, they currently use it as the only really viable state owned asset which can be used as a long distance air ambulance. =

Maybe, maybe not. They have two MATS jets at the minute, right? They might lose one or both, and rely on the CASA and charters for short and long range air ambulance services. With the budget as it is, I wouldn't rule anything out.

bluecode

If the Air Corps retains the jets then there's no point to this tender. Far from reducing costs it will add to them if the jets don't go.

It could also be a tender for supplemental air services where the Air Corps aircraft are either unsuitable or not financially feasible for the task.

That could be true but the very fact that the transport of ministers and the head of state is included implies the GIV will not be needed. The GIV can go anywhere in the world as it is. It's only downside is it's size. You could extrapolate from that it won't be needed when the new set up is in place. Retaining it for long distance air ambulance services would not make sense as it would be severely underutilised in that role and far more expensive than chartering a private air ambulance when and as needed.

The use of the MATs aircraft on an assortment of air ambulance roles is more down to the fact that they are available a lot more now thanks to their reduced role in transporting ministers rather than any suitability they may have for the role. Frankly both the Lear and GIV are overkill for the majority of ambulance transports they carry out. Most could be done by a Cessna Citation for a fraction of the cost.

It would interesting to see if there's a tender for an air ambulance service in preparation.

Surprised there hasn't been any comment on this tender from either the press or politicians. Seems to have been slipped in under the radar. This being August and all.

Mully_2011

Why don't they just use Aer Lingus ??

Klunk001

Morphéus wrote: »

they wont lose the jet, they currently use it as the only really viable state owned asset which can be used as a long distance air ambulance. you'll notice that role is not in the tender. also getting politicians to use alternative transport not flown by the defence forces crews, could mean the casa will now be available for 24hr SAR topcover. my gut feeling however is that the AC will tender for and win part of this tender and keep the status quo.

"From qualified and duly certified JAR OPS/EASAcarriers."

This comes from the tender document and would exclude the IAC. Just as a by the way, it was mentioned earlier in the year that the Government were looking into privatising parts of the IAC. FIrst SAR ( for a long time now albeit), now this. Wouldn't surprise me if AA and SAR topcover follow. Letting the IAC consentrate on purely military ops.

bluecode

Mully_2011 wrote: »

Why don't they just use Aer Lingus ??

Airport announcement: 'All passengers please unload your assault rifles and put them through the x ray machine.'

They do at times and Aer Lingus is free to bid for the tender.

But the real reason is the same reason you can't fly to Australia or Chile or Pakistan by Aer Lingus.

Morpheus

Maybe the RAF strategic airlift command will apply for the tender!

Storm 10

Mully_2011 wrote: »

Why don't they just use Aer Lingus ??

Damn right, just charter EI out, the Queen and Cameron use BA.

syklops

Storm 10 wrote: »

Damn right, just charter EI out, the Queen and Cameron use BA.

Presumably the tender is to cut costs. Do you really think Aer Lingus could do it cheaper than the Air Corps?

OS119

syklops wrote: »

Presumably the tender is to cut costs. Do you really think Aer Lingus could do it cheaper than the Air Corps?

no brainer - the cost of crewing and maintaining two different executive jets is going to be astronomical. if the costs of operating to two jets don't hit €500,000 (aircrew, ground crew, training and qualification for both, fuel, spares, depreciation, interest on the purchace price) every year i'd be stunned - it would take a hell of a lot of airline tickets to get to that kind of sum.

Cardinal Richelieu

For anyone interested in a general overview on how other nations governments travel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_transports_of_heads_of_state_and_government

westdub

This is a Tender from the Department of Justice and Equality and as far as I know it is not something new...

Typically, but not exclusively, this framework is for the provision of air charter services for the following requirements:-
(1) The removal by air to other countries, of persons without permission to remain in Ireland, by An Garda Síochána (Irish Police Force);
(2) Defence Forces Air Movements, for the safe air movement of Defence Force personnel, their equipment and other military material in respect of the Defence Forces participation in deployed operations and training exercises abroad;
(3) The provision of the Ministerial Air Transport Service, for the safe passage of, inter alia, the President of Ireland, Government Ministers, Senior Officials of Government Departments and other dignitaries.

All the overseas deployments by the Defense Forces use hired in aircraft and most of the Government use Airlines for long distance travel .....

Manic Moran

bluecode wrote: »

Airport announcement: 'All passengers please unload your assault rifles and put them through the x ray machine.'

In case people thought that was a joke...

bluecode

Yes I wasn't joking, I remember those pics from previously. Maybe they were checking you weren't trying to smuggle something dodgy inside those M4s.