A jet owned by Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley made more than 90 flights to holiday destinations during the pandemic.
The Newcastle United owner’s Dassault Falcon 7X flew 145,000 miles in just 12 months.
During that time Sports Direct received millions from the taxpayer.
According to government data the company was handed more than £5million a month in January and February this year to pay staff wages.
The general public has been subject to tight travel restrictions since the the Covid outbreak.
But essential business travel has been allowed.
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And since June 1 last year Mr Ashley’s plane has landed at 34 destinations in 15 countries.
The jet set down its wheels in the Maldives, Dubai, Portugal, Miami and Orlando in Florida, Crete, Mykonos and Zakynthos in Greece, and Majorca and Ibiza.
It can travel almost 7,000 miles in a single trip and fly at more than 650mph, reaching Dubai from the UK in six-and-a-half hours and New York in seven hours.
It is unclear exactly which of the 90 flights Mr Ashley or his business associates were aboard, if any.
A spokesman for Mr Ashley said: “We have no comment save that all appropriate business and personal policies, procedures and protocols have been followed and will continue to be followed.”
The Dassault Falcon is registered to a company called SDI Aviation Limited, which owned by Frasers Group.
Frasers owns sports empire Sports Direct, department store chain House of Fraser, Evans Cycles and fashion businesses Jack Wills, USC and Flannels.
The group is worth £3billion and Mr Ashley is believed to owns 64% of it.
In 2016, he told the BBC: “I don’t get paid a salary but what I do like to do is go by private plane. And I do like to go by private plane because it saves a lot of time and it’s very efficient.”
