Although senior members of the royal family, such as King Charles III, the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla, Prince William, and the Princess of Wales Catherine, use chartered flights during official visits and trips requiring high security, there are long-established protocols, practical considerations, and even cost-saving measures that sometimes lead royal family members to travel on regular commercial planes.
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One example is 2014, when Prince William experienced a fairly typical traveler situation at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. He was flying from London to Memphis, where a close friend Guy Pelly’s wedding was taking place. During a layover in the US Midwest, the prince was spotted in a private “Swiss Air” lounge eating pulled chicken nachos from “Hub 51” and chicken wings from “RJ Grunts,” PEOPLE reported at the time.
When does the royal family travel by plane, and when do they fly or not fly on commercial flights?
Chartered flights
During official foreign visits and state trips, senior members of the royal family often travel on privately chartered planes or government-approved aircraft. Such decisions are made considering security, schedule flexibility, and logistics, especially when royal trips are very intense and involve many events in different countries.
Similar to politicians who use specially designated aircraft for official trips, the British royal family uses Royal Air Force planes and chartered private jets for government-mandated trips. The Royal Air Force VIP “Voyager” is one of the main aircraft in this fleet, available to the royal family and British government officials.
The royal family’s annual financial report states that expenses for official trips undertaken by the king or other royal family members are covered by the so-called Sovereign Grant. State and other foreign visits funded from this grant are determined by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO, and approved by the Royal Visits Committee.
In the 2025–2026 financial year, the most expensive royal trip was made by Prince William, who visited Saudi Arabia in February 2026 – the trip cost £130,000. At that time, King Charles III and his wife’s state visit to Canada in May 2025 cost the Sovereign Grant nothing.
Flew on commercial flights
Although the Prince and Princess of Wales have traveled many times on Royal Air Force planes, they have also chosen commercial flights on several occasions. In 2016, for a week-long visit to India, the royal couple flew from London to Mumbai on a British Airways flight.
In 2020, during their first royal visit to Ireland, they also flew on a commercial Aer Lingus flight.
When Prince William and Kate arrived in the United States in 2022 – their first visit to the country since 2014 – they disembarked from a commercial plane at Boston Logan Airport.
For personal trips, they also chose low-cost airlines
Although members of the British royal family often chose first class on British Airways for personal holidays, they have been spotted on low-cost airline planes as well. When William and Catherine flew to Scotland in 2011 to attend Zara Tindall’s wedding, they chose Flybe and EasyJet, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
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In 2019, William and Kate also flew on a now-defunct Flybe flight from Norwich to Aberdeen to visit Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral. The couple traveled with their three young children, and when they got off the plane, they surprised other passengers.
“During the flight, I had a feeling that someone I recognized boarded the plane, but I thought it was probably just a footballer,” one passenger told The Sun at the time. “We landed, and people saw two black Range Rover cars standing on the tarmac.”
“Suddenly William, Kate, and the children stood up and left. No one bothered them when they got off the plane. In fact, they just looked like a family traveling together. No one saw how they boarded the plane either. It was amazing how they did it – apparently, they quietly entered when the passengers were already seated,” the passenger added.
Flew on a rare British Airways flight
Although Queen Elizabeth II flew more than 1 million miles during her reign, she rarely flew on commercial flights.
However, when she did fly, there were specific instructions on how to treat her. In 2024, memorabilia from a former British Airways VIP flight attendant appeared at auction. Royal family fans could see “confidential instructions from 1989 on how to care for the late queen and Prince Philip – down to the sweets Her Majesty liked when the plane was taking off,” auction house owner Charles Hanson said in a statement.
Among the preferences were “Velamints lozenges, a personal pillow, and martinis. Additionally, Hanson noted that ‘if Her Majesty was sleeping before landing, the crew was instructed not to wake her. She was to be left in her bed.’”
There are special rules about heirs traveling together
One of the best-known royal travel protocols concerns heirs to the throne. Traditionally, direct heirs are advised not to travel together once the children reach a certain age. This precaution was created to protect the line of succession in case of an accident.
In 2023, former King Charles III’s pilot Graham Laurie recalled this unofficial royal rule on the podcast “A Right Royal Podcast,” which was in effect when Prince William turned 12.
“Interestingly, we flew all four: Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Prince William, and Prince Harry until Prince William turned 12. After that, he had to have a separate aircraft, and we could only fly all four together when they were young, with written permission from Her Majesty,” he said, referring to then-Queen Elizabeth II.
Today, this means that Prince William and his teenage son Prince George are recommended to travel separately. However, modern royal travel decisions are often made on a case-by-case basis.
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