The Luftwaffe (German Air Force; GAF) has said that it will bring forward the retirement of the two Airbus A340-313Xs used by the Special Air Mission Wing of the Federal Ministry of Defence (FBS BMVg) for VIP transport duties.
The announcement came in mid-August, after technical problems with one of the A340-313Xs (16+01) forced German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to cancel her formal visit to Australia, Fiji and New Zealand. On August 14 – while en-route to Sydney, Australia – the aircraft was unable to retract its flaps following take-off after completing a routine fuel stop in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The A340 was forced to burn off and dump fuel before returning to Abu Dhabi.
