Lufthansa Technik has handed over the third and final Airbus A350 government aircraft to the German Federal Ministry of Defense’s (BMVg) Special Air Mission Wing at a festive ceremony during ILA Berlin. Lufthansa Technik delivered all of them to the German Armed Forces on time and on budget.
“The largest modernization program in the history of the Special Air Mission Wing can justifiably be called a Herculean task. Four cabin refurbishments for a total of three wide-body jets over a period of just four years, and some of them were still heavily influenced by the pandemic,” explained Soeren Stark, Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa Technik AG.
The initial handover of 10+03 took place just a few months after the political decision was made to replace the German Air Force’s two long-serving Airbus A340s with three brand-new A350s for long-haul political and parliamentary air transport. As the first aircraft was needed in service very quickly, Lufthansa Technik initially only equipped 10+03 with an interim cabin and handed it over to the then Minister of Defense in August 2020. The first A350 deliveries with a full government cabin followed in November 2022 and in March 2023 with 10+01 “Konrad Adenauer” and 10+02 “Theodor Heuss”. 10+03 “Kurt Schumacher” then also returned to Lufthansa Technik’s Hamburg VIP Completion Center, where its cabin interior was completed until recently.
