The British government appears to have committed a diplomatic and trade-marketing faux pas. Reuters reports:
Britain's aerospace industry lobby group said proposals were being drawn up by the industry that could allow Prime Minister David Cameron and even Queen Elizabeth to use modified Airbus jetliners that double as refuelling planes.
The proposals follow a British media storm after Cameron led a business delegation to Indonesia in a chartered Boeing 747 to oversee the sale of jetliners worth $2.5 billion supplied by Boeing's European arch-rival Airbus.
Robin Southwell, head of the UK aerospace industry's lobbying association and also head of Airbus parent EADS in Britain, said he would propose the alternative use of the Royal Air Force jets when not needed for refuelling missions.
He compared the choice of airliner for Indonesia to a luxury car salesman turning up in a used Jaguar.
"If you are trying to sell a new Aston Martin to someone and you turn up in a used Jag and say the Aston Martin is the best thing since sliced bread and then drive off in the Jag, it isn't as smart as turning up in the model you tried to sell."
. . .
The row over Cameron's flight to Indonesia deepened when it emerged that his plane, operated by U.S.-based Atlas Air, was owned by Sonair, an Angolan carrier banned for safety reasons in the European Union.
There's more at the link.
Ah . . . yes - quite! Trying to sell European-made airliners while traveling in a US-made and -operated jet might be considered to be just a teensy bit non-U, diplomatically speaking . . . wouldn't you say, old boy?
Peter
1 comment:
It's one thing to sell a plane you're not flying in.
It's another thing to actually fly in one.
Capitalist, profit-hungry corporate giant?
or consortium of multi-government committees?
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