Downing Street has defended a government-chartered plane that stopped in Manchester to collect Prime Minister Andy Burnham on its way to a Commonwealth summit in the Caribbean, according to The Guardian. The plane took off from Stansted and was diverted to Manchester to collect the prime minister and his wife, the paper reported.

Senior political correspondent Peter Walker reported for The Guardian that critics have decried the trip with the nickname "Air Miles Andy." The paper said the stop would have been more financially and environmentally costly than an alternative, though the summary of its report available for this story does not describe that alternative.

BBC News reported that the trip sparked a backlash, with some questioning the value for money. According to BBC News, No 10 says security, cost and "operational requirements" were all factored into the decision.

The two reports differ in emphasis. The Guardian focused on the criticism and the added expense of the stop, while BBC News focused on the reasons No 10 has given. Neither summary gives a figure for what the flight cost, and neither indicates whether the government will change how it arranges such travel.

The summaries reviewed for this report are excerpts, and the full texts of both reports may contain additional detail that is not reflected here.

Sources: The Guardian: No 10 defends flight to Caribbean going via Manchester to pick up Burnham; BBC News: No10 defends flight to Manchester to collect Andy Burnham.