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German government mulls renewing Airbus fleet after series of plane problems

The German government is mulling buying three new Airbus planes to renew its fleet after a series of technical incidents led to delays, the Defence Ministry announced.

Published: 10 April 2019 08:34 CEST

German government mulls renewing Airbus fleet after series of plane problems

Angela Merkel getting off the plane after a technical problem last November forced the Airbus to make an emergency landing in Cologne. Photo: DPA

“The decision on the acquisition of three A350 is not yet taken, but it is undoubtedly expected very soon,” said a Ministry spokesman.

A series of defects have plagued German government planes in the past few months, including a breakdown that forced Chancellor Angela Merkel to delay her trip to a G20 summit last November.

SEE ALSO: Bumpy start to G20 summit for Merkel as plane forced to make emergency landing

According to newspaper Bild, the defence ministry has ordered three new Airbus A350s for a total cost of €1.2 billion by 2026.

Each plane costs €640 million, according to Bild, and will also be equipped with special features such as VIP booths for members of government, costing an additional €288 million.

An extra €229 million will be spent on spare parts and “self-protection systems”, the paper said.

The aircraft should be available by June 2020.

SEE ALSO: Not a unique occurrence: How plane problems have plagued German politicians' travel

Two of them will replace two A340-300s that have been in service and used for years, Bild said.

In recent months a host of problems have effected government planes, including an Airbus carrying Foreign Minister Heiko Maas which burst a tyre landing in New York.

In another incident a month ago, the foreign minister was stranded in Mali due to a hydraulic problem with his Airbus A319's landing gear.

At the end of January, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was stuck in Ethiopia due to breakdown with his plane, while Development Minister Gerd Mueller had to cancel a trip to Namibia at the start of the year owing to problems with his plane.

Out of 1,743 government flights between 2016 and 2018, 21 government flights were cancelled or otherwise affected by technical defects, according to official data.

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Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefly closes her eyes and smiles at a 2018 press conference in Berlin.

Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefly closes her eyes at a 2018 press conference in Berlin. Aside from plans to take "a little nap" after retiring this week, she hasn't given much away about what she might do next. Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP

The veteran chancellor has been tight-lipped about what she will do after handing over the reins to her successor Olaf Scholz on December 8th.

During her four terms in office, 67-year-old Merkel was often described as the most powerful woman in the world — but she hinted recently that she will not miss being in charge.

“I will understand very quickly that all this is now someone else’s responsibility. And I think I’m going to like that situation a lot,” she said during a trip to Washington this summer.

Famous for her stamina and her ability to remain fresh after all-night meetings, Merkel once said she can store sleep like a camel stores water.

But when asked about her retirement in Washington, she replied: “Maybe I’ll try to read something, then my eyes will start to close because I’m tired, so I’ll take a little nap, and then we’ll see where I show up.”

READ ALSO: ‘Eternal’ chancellor: Germany’s Merkel to hand over power
READ ALSO: The Merkel-Raute: How a hand gesture became a brand

‘See what happens’
First elected as an MP in 1990, just after German reunification, Merkel recently suggested she had never had time to stop and reflect on what else she might like to do.

“I have never had a normal working day and… I have naturally stopped asking myself what interests me most outside politics,” she told an audience during a joint interview with Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

“As I have reached the age of 67, I don’t have an infinite amount of time left. This means that I want to think carefully about what I want to do in the next phase of my life,” she said.

“Do I want to write, do I want to speak, do I want to go hiking, do I want to stay at home, do I want to see the world? I’ve decided to just do nothing to begin with and see what happens.”

Merkel’s predecessors have not stayed quiet for long. Helmut Schmidt, who left the chancellery in 1982, became co-editor of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit and a popular commentator on political life.

Helmut Kohl set up his own consultancy firm and Gerhard Schroeder became a lobbyist, taking a controversial position as chairman of the board of the Russian oil giant Rosneft.

German writer David Safier has imagined a more eccentric future for Merkel, penning a crime novel called Miss Merkel: Mord in der Uckermark that sees her tempted out of retirement to investigate a mysterious murder.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel forms her trademark hand gesture, the so-called “Merkel-Raute” (known in English as the Merkel rhombus, Merkel diamond or Triangle of Power). (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

Planting vegetables
Merkel may wish to spend more time with her husband Joachim Sauer in Hohenwalde, near Templin in the former East Germany where she grew up, and where she has a holiday home that she retreats to when she’s weary.

Among the leisure activities she may undertake there is vegetable, and especially, potato planting, something that she once told Bunte magazine in an interview in 2013 that she enjoyed doing.

She is also known to be a fan of the volcanic island of D’Ischia, especially the remote seaside village of Sant’Angelo.

Merkel was captured on a smartphone video this week browsing the footwear in a Berlin sportswear store, leading to speculation that she may be planning something active.

Or the former scientist could embark on a speaking tour of the countless universities from Seoul to Tel Aviv that have awarded her honorary doctorates.

Merkel is set to receive a monthly pension of around 15,000 euros ($16,900) in her retirement, according to a calculation by the German Taxpayers’ Association.

But she has never been one for lavish spending, living in a fourth-floor apartment in Berlin and often doing her own grocery shopping.

In 2014, she even took Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to her favourite supermarket in Berlin after a bilateral meeting.

So perhaps she will simply spend some quiet nights in sipping her beloved white wine and whipping up the dish she once declared as her favourite, a “really good potato soup”.

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