The return of Germany’s Minister of Economy and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon has been delayed due to a technical issue with the government plane.
As a result, the vice chancellor was unable to return to Berlin overnight as planned and is now expected to arrive sometime on Wednesday.
Before the Airbus A350 could take off, the captain informed the minister and other passengers about a malfunction in the plane, which is only five months old. The issue was a technical defect in the ignition system of one of the engines, causing a fuse to blow. The plane was not cleared for takeoff with this malfunction.
The Airbus 350-900, named “Kurt Schumacher,” was delivered to the Bundeswehr Air Force only in June of last year as the last of three new long-haul government planes, part of the largest modernization program in the history of the German Air Force. In August 2023, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was twice forced to return to Abu Dhabi airport on the “Konrad Adenauer” plane en route to Australia due to technical issues with the wing flaps.
Olaf Scholz has also experienced periodic issues with his aircraft. The most notable incident occurred in 2018 when his plane was unable to depart from Bali after the annual International Monetary Fund meeting because rodents had chewed through the electrical cables on the government plane.
