F
R

4
-
2
0
0
1

THE "FLUGBEREITSCHAFT" OF THE GERMAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Black saloons, red carpets, ceremonial handshakes, gun salutes and soldiers standing to attention - these are the impressions gained by the television-viewing public of the farewell scene of a state visit. On the gangway, leading directly up to the aircraft entrance, the Chancellor turns round one last time: a cheerful wave for the cameras in Washington, Peking or Paris, and then he disappears inside the white-painted Airbus A310.

"10+21", the down-to-earth name which the Luftwaffe has given to its flagship, has little in common with a feudal palace. The flying Chancellor's office comes over as a comfortable cross between a hotel and a mobile home - anyone who is expecting oriental luxury or James Bond gadgetry is in for a big disappointment. There are no rescue capsules or rocket launchers in the A310, as used by Harrison Ford in the Hollywood hit, "Air Force One".

"No Federal Chancellor is really afraid of flying," reports Hanns Eichenberg, one of the most senior pilots in the unit with 17,000 flying hours to his name. He has been flying foreign ministers, heads of government and Federal Presidents to destinations all around the world since 1974. "Joschka Fischer and before him Helmut Kohl - they are the passengers who are most interested in flying," explains the Wing Commander. "On longhaul flights Joschka Fischer enjoys coming into the cockpit for a chat."

Just next to the front cabin door of the Airbus are bedroom and bath. But waiting for the tired head of state and his wife is not a heavenly bed, but two comfortable berths. The en-suite bathroom with shower is spacious although, to make the best use of the space, the designers have skilfully integrated the toilet into a bench seat. In the quiet, smallest room it is made clear to the Chancellor that he is expected to behave just like any airline passenger: a standard Lufthansa sign reminds the head of state that he should not put any glass, metal, clothes or other debris in the toilet.

Further down the wide aisle which runs along the window frontage in the Airbus interior, there is a cabin for the Chancellor's closest staff in an adjacent room. There are six seats available.

Directly behind is the working area for the flying government, a conference room with an en-suite communications centre. The dressing down meted out to rebellious federal state associations or rapid decisions that have to be made on the BSE crisis - the communications specialists who come along ensure that the Chancellor is able to intervene in the depths of German daily politics even from an altitude of 39,000ft. Continuous contact is maintained with Berlin via satellite telephone and radio link.

At the same time the VIP passengers on board "10+21" can also recover from the stress of the diplomatic life: the conference room can be converted into a flying cinema or concert hall thanks to the video equipment and on-board CD player.

When Chancellor Gerhard Schröder goes on a business trip, he is normally accompanied by high-ranking representatives of industry, journalists and security officers. These delegations share the rear quarters of the A310 cabin. Here the VIP Airbus resembles its sisters that are in normal airline service: seating for media representatives, police and travelling guests comprises a mixture of Business and Economy Class. However, even in the Economy section the seats are not as close together on board the "10+21" as on a charter plane as the seat pitch is greater.

The present fleet of aircraft can look back on an eventful history. The A310's started life in 1989 when they were leased by the east German airline Interflug. When the airline was subsequently disbanded following German unification, the Federal government took over the brand new planes. Lufthansa's Hamburg plant then refurbished them with their comfortable interior fittings.

The VIP pilots of the Luftwaffe have a long tradition. The unit was set up in 1957 by the then Minister of Defence, Franz-Josef Strauss. Right on the first flight the Bavarian politician experienced an emergency landing - a fire in the windscreen wiper motor of the de Havilland Heron forced the aircraft to make an unscheduled landing. While Konrad Adenauer continued to use a Douglas C-47 on his business trips, his successors from 1968 onwards enjoyed new standards of comfort. Entry into service of the first Boeing 707-307C heralded in the jet age on longhaul flights operated by the Flugbereitschaft. This robust four-engined aircraft was used by Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl. In those days of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s an additional, luxurious means of transport was also available for the heads of state, a Bundesbahn pullman coach, which served Konrad Adenauer, Kurt-Georg Kiesinger and Willy Brandt as a mobile office. Sometimes chancellors would combine both means of transport. Thus, for example, during his Moscow visit in 1955 Adenauer sent the pullman coach on ahead as a bugproof refuge for background conversations with his staff. To spare himself the time-consuming journey by rail, the Chancellor travelled to Moscow by plane.

It was on board the Boeing 707 fleet that the federal government progressed towards German unity. When in 1990 Helmut Kohl uncorked the champagne bottles in the air on his way back from Soviet Union, the picture was transmitted all around the world. But the most enthusiastic user of the fleet was not the Chancellor from the Palatinate. The prize for the biggest mileage clocked up using the fleet goes to Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher.

It was not until 4 November 1999 that the Boeings were finally phased out. However, the VIP conveyances did not end up in the museum or on the scrapheap. Because of their low flying hours, far below the average clocked up in normal airline operations, the former jets of the Flugbereitschaft now embarked on second careers. Since then two aircraft have been in service with the NATO E-3A Airborne Early Warning Squadrons. The American company Northrop Grumman acquired another Boeing 707 and is converting it into an airborne command post. A fourth Boeing 707 is now transporting freight in service with the Middle Eastern Gulf Falcon Airways. "The main feature about changing over to the Airbus was the dramatic improvement in comfort," remembers Luftwaffe pilot Eichenberg. "Because there was no APU on the 707, there was no air conditioning. One of the first foreign trips Helmut Kohl took was to Egypt. He had to sweat with us in the 707 while the accompanying journalists flew in an air-conditioned 727."

However, only 20% of all the flights involve transporting VIPs. Mostly the government's own airline flies less prominent passengers such as Service personnel and equipment. Five Airbus A310's transport medicaments to Kosovo or fighter pilots to Holloman. The troop transporters are a special variant of the A310. The multi-role transporter (MRT) version is a combination of freighter, passenger aircraft, ambulance jet and flying tanker. When the Airbus flies as a pure troop transporter, then the cabin furnishings look like those found on a comfortable charter plane. Seniority of rank is irrelevant when it comes to the assignment of seats - commanders and riflemen all sit in one class. Nor is there any special treatment when it comes to food. The only ones to be treated differently are children travelling with Service personnel, for whom the Lufthansa kitchen lays on special children's menus.

From page 6 of FLUG REVUE 4/2001