Angela Merkel should still have fond memories of the trip. In November 2018, the then Chancellor wanted to travel to the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. But after an hour the communication system of the Airbus fell A340 Konrad Adenauer out, the machine landed at Cologne/Bonn Airport and first had to be repaired. Because it was not so easy to find a replacement, Merkel flew to South America with the Spanish airline Iberia after spending a night in a hotel via Madrid. The only probably very pleasant side effect: she missed a planned one-on-one meeting with the then US President Donald Trump.
The fact that the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was also on board as Merkel’s deputy at the time, was able to fly from the G20 summit in Bali to Berlin almost exactly four years later without a breakdown is very directly related to that trip to Buenos Aires . Shortly after the fiasco, the federal government decided to use the two aging and repair-prone Airbuses A340 through three modern A350 to replace. The first of the more modern jets that Kurt Schumacher with the military registration 10+3, has been in use since the beginning of 2021 and was Scholz’ service aircraft to and from Indonesia. This week the Bundeswehr flight readiness service took over the second jet – it has the same name as the old one A340 again Konrad Adenauer.
In Hamburg, the machines get their special interior
Unlike them A340which the flight service once bought used from Lufthansa, are the three A350 newly built aircraft. Like all long-haul jets of the type, they will be assembled on the final assembly line in Toulouse. You will then be flown to Hamburg without cabin equipment. There they get their interior from Lufthansa Technik. the Kurt Schumacher only has a makeshift cabin, which is very similar to those of normal scheduled airlines, because it should be particularly fast. There are no bedrooms for the VIP guests, only sleeper chairs, but at least a lounge in the middle of the plane where travelers can meet.
The new Konrad Adenauer on the other hand, now has a full government cabin, i.e. separate rooms for the Federal Chancellor and for meetings. The third A350the Theodor Heusswill be equipped in the same way and when it is also delivered, the Kurt Schumacher flown to the Flugwerft in Hamburg to get the better interior as well.
Trump had negotiated the deal for the new Air Force One
The Bundestag had approved a budget of 1.2 billion euros for the purchase of the three aircraft. Which, by the way, somehow closes the circle to Donald Trump. During his term in office, Trump had a contract for two new aircraft with the American aviation group Boeing Air Force One-Jets, official VC-25B called, let negotiate. Boeing agreed to a fixed price that was unusual for military contracts. Since then, the group has had to write off almost 1.2 billion US dollars on the project because the costs and the schedule are completely out of control.
The costs for the American Air Force One are completely out of control. The aircraft manufacturer Boeing agreed to a fixed price for the machine.
(Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP)
The two are there VC-25B not even new planes. The machines of the type 747-8 were once built for the Russian airline Transaero. But the airline went bankrupt in 2015 and stopped taking the jets. At some point the idea came up to add them to the new Air Force One retool since the two current VC-25A have been in use since 1990 and are technically obsolete and too expensive to operate. Actually, the ex-Transaero jets should be delivered to the Air Force in 2024, now the first should come in September 2026 and the second only a year later. According to Boeing, several factors are responsible for the delay – including the corona pandemic and a shortage of skilled workers. The specialist company originally chosen for the interior has gone bankrupt. President Joe Biden therefore has to be with the two old ones longer Air Force One to fly.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has very different problems. He’s been trying to fly the Boeing government jet for years 787 for sale, which the then President Felipe Calerón had ordered in 2012. But so far no buyer has been found. López Obrador thinks it’s decadent, especially in a country as poor as Mexico. He prefers to fly line – and often wooden class.