With complete VIP equipment
First chancellor assignment for German “Air Force One”
1/28/2023 8:39 am
In the morning, Olaf Scholz sets off on his first trip to South America – and is in the air for around 14 hours. For the new government aircraft “Konrad Adenauer” it is the first mission in the service of the chancellor, who experienced the pitfalls of the predecessor aircraft firsthand.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in SPD left on Saturday with the new government aircraft “Konrad Adenauer” on his first trip to South America as head of government. The four-day journey begins in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, before continuing to Chile and Brazil. In terms of content, it is about the expansion of economic relations, energy supply and climate protection. For the first time, the Federal Chancellor is traveling in the new government aircraft “Konrad Adenauer”. It is the second A350-900 aircraft to be put into service by the German Armed Forces Flight Mission at the end of last year.
Chancellor Scholz can look forward to the full VIP equipment.
(Photo: dpa)
But it is the first of a total of three of these aircraft that has full VIP equipment, with offices and a lounge area – the Bundeswehr is silent on the details, however. The “Adenauer” is thus considered to be the new “Air Force One” for the Federal Government and the Federal President. It had already been tested by Federal President Frank-Walter-Steinmeier on a trip to Brazil at the turn of the year. Scholz is now flying the white-painted aircraft with black, red and gold stripes for the first time.
The “Adenauer” is 67 meters long, 960 kilometers per hour, flies more than 13,000 meters high and can reach any destination in the world without a stopover. 14 hours are scheduled for the 12,000-kilometer route to Buenos Aires.
Memories of breakdown flight from 2018
Scholz was already on the way to Buenos Aires with a plane called “Konrad Adenauer” – the predecessor of the current “Air Force One” type A340. In 2018, together with the then Chancellor Angela Merkel, he took the plane to the G20 summit, but shortly after take-off there was a serious breakdown. A defective component – a central switching unit in the on-board electronics – paralyzed two radio systems that are supposed to replace each other in an emergency.
The plane that started in Berlin had to turn back shortly after take-off. Merkel and Scholz switched to a Spanish airliner – and arrived a day late for the summit of the most important economic powers. The glitch caused a lot of ridicule, but also ensured that the Bundestag made around 1.2 billion euros available for new aircraft. The result is the three new A350 aircraft, including the “Konrad Adenauer”.