Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) fixed-wing, and (2) rotary-wing, aircraft are in service with the Royal Air Force; and how many of those are (a) in maintenance for a period longer than three months, (b) on extended life, and (c) scheduled for decommissioning.

There are 485 fixed-wing aircraft In-Service with the Royal Air Force. Of these 86 are in maintenance for longer than three months and 27 are in fleet management storage.

There are 86 rotary-wing aircraft In-Service with the Royal Air Force. Of these 17 are in maintenance for longer than three months. None are in fleet management storage.

It is part of standard fleet management across all fleets for aircraft to undertake detailed depth maintenance inspections under scheduled timelines. These extensive aircraft strip-down checks ensure safety and continuing airworthiness and often take a period greater than three months to complete.

Aircraft scheduled for decommissioning are no longer considered to be In-Service.