The left wants more line
So often the traffic lights fly with the Bundeswehr
October 30, 2023, 4:34 a.m
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The Chancellor and his ministers travel a lot. On average, they use the Bundeswehr’s planes and helicopters twice a day. In addition, there are almost as many empty flights. This goes too far for the Left faction.
In the first 21 months of its term in office, the federal government used the Bundeswehr’s aircraft and helicopters for official purposes 1,184 times. The Federal Chancellery is the leader with 397 flights, ahead of the Foreign Office with 246 flights, according to a response from the Defense Ministry to a request from Left MP Sevim Dagdelen and other members of her group.
The Ministry of Defense itself booked one of the currently 16 aircraft or one of the three helicopters on standby 107 times. This is followed by the Ministry of the Interior (95 flights), the Ministry of Economic Affairs (94) and the Ministry of Finance (86). On average, the federal government uses the flight standby approximately twice a day.
For the flights of the Chancellor, his ministers and their state secretaries, almost the same number of flights had to be completed in order to bring the planes to the departure point – usually Berlin. This is because the Bundeswehr’s flight operations are still stationed in Cologne-Wahn. Of the almost 1,200 flights operated by the federal government up to August 31st of this year, there were 992 flights without passengers. However, the Ministry of Defense emphasizes in its response that these would be used “targeted” for training and further education.
More flights will be added
Since the change of government at the beginning of December, the flight service has completed a further 331 flights to transport the Federal President, as well as members of the Bundestag, Bundesrat and Federal Constitutional Court. In addition, there are 282 flights for provision at the point of departure.
For left-wing MP Dagdelen, the extent to which flight availability is being used goes too far. “The traffic light government’s claim to environmental and climate protection is exposed as pure hypocrisy with the emission of tens of thousands of tons of CO2 for empty flights and excessive business trips with the willingness to fly,” she said. “The greater use of cheaper scheduled flights would also be more than appropriate for taxpayers.”
The flight readiness has repeatedly hit the headlines in recent years because of mishaps. Nevertheless, the federal government’s frequent flyers in particular are reluctant to travel by scheduled flights because the planning effort is much greater. There are also relatively few direct flights abroad from Berlin compared to other capital airports such as London or Paris.