Germany Looking At ACJ350 For Govt Transport After a recent string of what can only be termed embarrassing faults with the German Airbus A340s in use for Government official transport, they are actively looking at the ACJ350 as a replacement. The 20-plus year old A340s developed issues in the recent past especially with the German head Angela Merkel onboard. Most notably when she was enroute to Argentina last year for the G20 Summit she missed the opening because of a technical issue causing their diversion. The aircraft were previously used jets from German carrier Lufthansa.
The ACJ350 will suit the bill but the question is if they will order just one to supplement or three to phaseout the older A340s. It appears they are going with three of the new jets. The German Ministry of Defense is now reportedly ready to move forward with the acquisition for the A350s. As for the fitout to bring it up to standard for government VIP travel, that will likely be done by Lufthansa Technik. Once acquired the first aircraft could be in the possession of the German Air Force by 2020 as they are time lining later this year for initial delivery. The other two will be delivered by 2021 and 2023 respectively. For more information: Airbus S.A.S. Worldwide Headquarters 1, Rond point Maurice Bellonte Blagnac Cedex 31707 France www.airbus.com ***
