The Dutch official government plane, which was bought in 1996 for 75 million guilders, has been sold to Australian airline Alliance Airlines, NOS reports.

Acting infrastructure minister Melanie Schulz told parliament the airline paid some €3.7m for the Fokker 70 which was used by the government and the royal family for official visits.

The PH-KBX, whose last three letters refer to queen Beatrix, is no longer up to standard and has a limited range. It cannot, for example, cover the distance between the Netherlands to the Antilles without a stop-over.

During a state visit by the queen Máxima and king Willem-Alexander to Australia last year the plane was only used for internal flights and was flown to Australia without its royal cargo, taking 2.5 days to do so.

The government has now opted for a Boeing 737 Business Jet which will set the tax payer back €89m.