German Air Force Retires A340 VIP Jets Over Reliability Issues

The German Air Force says it will retire its two Airbus A340-300 VIP transport aircraft ahead of schedule, following a series of technical problems that forced the cancellation of a foreign minister's trip to the Asia-Pacific region.

The two A340s, which serve in a role similar to Air Force One in the United States, are used to fly the German chancellor and other senior officials on long-haul flights. They were due to be phased out in September 2023 and at the end of 2024, respectively. However, after one of the jets suffered two flap failures in 24 hours, the German Air Force decided to take them out of service "as soon as possible, i.e. in the coming weeks".

The flap issue occurred on August 14, when Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was en route to Sydney, Australia, after a refueling stop in Abu Dhabi. The aircraft had to dump fuel and return to Abu Dhabi, where it performed a functional check flight with no problems. However, when it took off again for Sydney, the same problem reoccurred, forcing a second return to Abu Dhabi.

Baerbock called off her trip, which was also supposed to include visits to Fiji and New Zealand, saying it was "logistically impossible to continue". She returned to Germany on a commercial flight.

The German Air Force said that its three new Airbus A350-900 VIP jets, which were delivered between 2020 and 2021, were available for long-haul flights and offered "robust and modern" capabilities. The A350s are part of a wider modernization of the German Air Force's VIP fleet, which has faced several availability issues in recent years.

The A340s, which were previously operated by Lufthansa, have been in service with the German Air Force since 2011. They have a range of over 13,000 kilometers and can carry up to 143 passengers.