The Challenger 601 was repainted white at the company’s new paint facility in Oxford, and is covered from its tip to its tail with ‘Happy Birthday Prince George’. The design was made by award winning British design studio Andrew Winch Designs, who specialise in aviation, yachts and architecture.

The market cost of this exercise would be around £120,000, which Hangar8 believes makes it the world’s most expensive ‘birthday card’. The previous holder of this record is thought to be a painting by Damien Hirst which he signed ‘happy birthday’ and gave to a former secretary at an art college he attended. It was valued at around £30,000.

Dustin Dryden, Chief Executive Officer of Hangar8, said: “In just a year, we estimate that Prince George has travelled around 33,000 ‘heir miles’ when he went to the Caribbean island of Mustique on holiday and then on his official trip to New Zealand and Australia. Our research shows that he has had a very positive impact on the majority of people, and certainly enhanced the strong reputation of the Royal Family even further.”

To mark the Prince’s first birthday, new research* from Hangar8 reveals that because of him, 24% of Brits now have a more positive view of the Royal Family (8% said it was now ‘much more positive’). Only 2% said they now have a more negative view because of him. Also, some 2.1 million people who previously had a negative image of the Royals now claim to have a positive one thanks to his Royal Highness.  Overall, 17% of people think that he has ‘greatly’ enhanced the image of the Royal family, and 33% think he has had a ‘slight’ positive impact here.
		Birthday treat: Prince George visits the butterfly exhibit at London's Natural History Museum
		Official photograph by John Stillwell

Jim Dixon, Head of Aviation at Andrew Winch Designs said: “We have been involved in the interior design of many jets and yachts as well as some incredible buildings, but our work on wishing Prince George a happy first birthday has been one of our most fun assignments.

“We always strive to design exquisite VVIP interiors and exteriors tailored precisely to our Clients requirements and tastes. Every project is truly unique, with an exterior that offers ‘Ramp Appeal’ on first sight."

Hangar8 is the only aircraft management company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It offers aircraft management, charter, sales, leasing and engineering services. Hangar8 manages over 50 aircraft and has bases in Europe, West Africa and Asia.

*1,025 people were interviewed by the research company Viewsbank in July 2014.