On the way to Djibouti, Foreign Minister Baerbock’s plane had to turn away shortly before its destination. The flight readiness was missing an important permit. A plane breakdown had already slowed the minister down in August.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was hit again. After the plane breakdown in August, when defective landing flaps prevented a planned trip to Australia twice and the minister was stranded in Abu Dhabi for two days, she now has to cancel her East Africa trip in the afternoon due to a lack of overflight permission for Eritrea. Due to a lack of fuel, the Bundeswehr’s A 321 had to switch to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Attempts to apply for overflight permission from the air after departure from Berlin apparently also failed due to a power outage at the Foreign Ministry in Eritrea. The minister’s plane previously flew several loops over the Red Sea until the kerosene ran out for another wait in the air.
Replacement machine already in use
The Foreign Minister’s aircraft was already a replacement aircraft, as the planned A 319 had to be replaced with the A 321 yesterday due to engine failure. The two Air Force aircraft of the A 340 series, which were once intended for long-haul flights, had already been retired in the fall after the flap incident.
The Federal President is currently traveling with the remaining A 350. Flying around Eritrea with the shorter-range aircraft was apparently not possible due to the geopolitical situation over the Red Sea. On one side is the civil war region of Yemen, on the other is Sudan, which has also been affected by an internal conflict that has been raging since April.
It is unclear whether the trip will continue
Baerbock originally wanted to talk in Djibouti, the first stop on her trip, about, among other things, the security of the sea routes in the Red Sea after Houthi rebels from Yemen have been shelling merchant ships in the strait for weeks.
It still seems unclear whether the East Africa trip planned for three days, which was supposed to take Baerbock to Djibouti, Kenya and South Sudan, will continue or whether the minister will return to Berlin after a refueling stop in Jeddah.