Press Release
Issued by Lufthansa Technik.
March 30, 2011
In the presence of Rüdiger Wolf, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg), Lufthansa Technik AG formally handed over the first Airbus A340 for the BMVg's Special Air Mission Wing (FlBschft BMVg) on Wednesday.
Over a period of about 21 months the aircraft had undergone a full overhaul, had been fitted with a VIP cabin and supplementary military equipment and its exterior had been repainted. An intensive demonstration and test program has been carried out by the German Armed Forces Test and Evaluation Centre (WTD 61) since the beginning of 2011 to prepare the aircraft for government service.
The Airbus A340 is the first of two long-range aircraft of this type to have been delivered under the program to upgrade the medium- and long haul fleets of the BMVg's Special Air Mission Wing. Both aircraft had been acquired from Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Two new Airbus A319CJ's fitted with VIP cabins had already been handed over to the Bundeswehr by Lufthansa Technik in March and May 2010. The second Airbus A340-300 is due to be delivered in the summer of 2011.
August Wilhelm Henningsen, Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik , said: "Despite the much greater complexity of the work, we have succeeded once again, as we did with the two Airbus A319s, in delivering the first Airbus A340 to the Bundeswehr as stipulated in the contract and within budget. I would like to take this opportunity to stress the highly professional and constructive collaboration with our partners from the BMVg, the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement and the Luftwaffe over the last few years. At the same time I would like to thank our employees, whose commitment and expertise made it possible to bring this challenging project to a successful conclusion. I am confident that our long-standing customer, the BMVg's Special Air Mission Wing, and its passengers will derive great pleasure and enjoy outstanding comfort on future long-distance flights with this aircraft."
The new aircraft cabin is divided into several zones: a conference area with 12 seats, a private area with 15 seats and a delegation area in which 116 people can sit and also travel long distances in comfort thanks to the generous seat pitch. In this way the aircraft has a total of 143 passenger seats plus a further 19 crew positions. The entire aircraft is designed to be disabled friendly. nice®, the digital cabin management system developed by Lufthansa Technik, has also been installed. The timelessly elegant and impressive design dispenses entirely with the need to use tropical wood.
A number of additional measures were implemented during the conversion work to meet the Luftwaffe's special requirements. For medevac operations, the delegation area can be converted to a flying intensive care unit complete with facilities such as extra oxygen and a separate power supply, allowing up to four wounded people, accident victims or sick passengers to be transported. A secure communication and information system, comprising wireless LAN, telephony, fax and internet / e-mail connection, has also been installed.
On top of this, Lufthansa Technik has been contracted to supply technical logistics services for the new medium- and long-haul fleet. In addition to the two Airbus A319's and the two A340's this will include four Bombardier Global 5000's due to be delivered to the Special Air Mission Wing by Lufthansa Technik in the second half of 2011. The scope of services Lufthansa Technik is providing covers maintenance management, servicing of the aircraft, engines and components, spares provisioning and the supply and updating of aeronautical and technical documentation.
