[Arnfinn Madsen]

There was some fuzz in Sweden with the prime minister chartering a plane and it was for a private visit, then it became a small media hype about it in several countries and put some politicians in a bad light, so I think it is mostly a PR-issue to avoid headlines like "PM's vacation cost 20k of taxpayer's money", nobody would critizise him doing it on a state visit. To fly commercial the way they fly it can't be cheap though, I know the Norwegian government has an agreement with several commercial airlines that if the PM or ministers want to fly they will always get a seat, no matter where and when.