The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) decided not to wait any longer and to retire the two remaining Airbus A340-300s, after having to cancel diplomatic flights due to technical problems.
Through its social networks, the Luftwaffe announced that the Airbus A340s originally scheduled for retirement in September 2023 (registration 16+02) and the end of 2024 (registration 16+01, located in Abu Dhabi), will be immediately retired and replaced by the much more modern Airbus A350s.
Mit den #A350 stehen der Flugbereitschaft robuste und moderne Flugzeuge für die Langstrecken zur Verfügung.
Wir werden die beiden #A340 so schnell wie möglich, d.h. in den kommenden Wochen vorzeitig außer Dienst stellen.
Die beiden Airbus A340 sollten ursprünglich im September… pic.twitter.com/P7HP3APex1— Team Luftwaffe (@Team_Luftwaffe) August 15, 2023
Technical failures affecting diplomacy
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had to cancel a diplomatic visit to Australia twice because the German Air Force A340 in which she was traveling had problems with its flaps.
According to Der Spiegel, already in the early hours of Monday morning the flight commander noticed a malfunction when trying to retract the flaps. At that point the decision was made to return to the airport of origin (Abu Dhabi International Airport), for which the aircraft had to lighten up by dumping around 80 tons of jet fuel (Fuel dumping) over the desert and the sea, a maneuver that lasted two hours, landing back in Abu Dhabi at 5:33 a.m. local time.
Since the flaps could not be fully and synchronously retracted, the aircraft could not reach normal cruising altitude and speed. Fuel consumption would have increased significantly on the long route from UAE to Australia. As the aircraft was fully fueled for the nearly 14-hour flight, the weight had to be significantly reduced for safe landing.
See also: Germany takes delivery of second Airbus A350 VIP for the Armed Forces
In the evening, the Luftwaffe aircraft again attempted to make the crossing, but was unsuccessful. After takeoff at 01:00 local time (23:00 CEST) in Abu Dhabi, the aircraft initially climbed properly, but the unresolved flap problem again prevented the German diplomat’s trip. About 15 minutes after takeoff, the Airbus A340-300 again veered off course and flew back to the United Arab Emirates, where it landed again at 2:57 a.m. local time.
