Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the restrictions on British military aircrafts (a) arriving at and (b) departing from Gibraltar on (i) military operations and (ii) financial costs to his Department.

UK military aircraft travelling to and from RAF Gibraltar are routed so as to avoid Spanish territorial airspace, in accordance with Spanish restrictions on UK military overflights. RAF Gibraltar continues to operate as a sovereign UK military airfield, and the current overflight ban by Spain does not impede our operational freedom with respect to aircraft movements. No assessment has been conducted regarding the financial costs associated with routing UK military aircraft through the global network of Flight Information Regions.