General News of Saturday, 18 February 2023
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2023-02-18Akufo-Addo flies refurbished presidential jet for Germany, Ethiopia trips
President Akufo-Addo is met by Ambassador Gina Blay on arrival in Munich
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo arrived in Germany on February 16 aboard the presidential jet.
The Falcon 900-EX Presidential Jet, only returned to Accra on Valentine’s Day from Paris, France for where it underwent full refurbishment over a six-month period.
GhanaWeb sources confirmed that the jet aside from refurbishment also underwent some retrofitting with avionics systems upgrade whiles in
Read full articlethe French capital.
GhanaWeb confirmed that the president used it after analyzing photos shared of Akufo-Addo’s arrival in Munich as shared by Gina Blay, the ambassador of Ghana to Germany.
The frontage of the jet with the Armed Forces logo embossed on it is captured in the first photo shared by the diplomat on Twitter.
The president after disembarking is met by a delegation of embassy officials at the airport. His engagement in Germany was in respect of the Munich Security Conference where he shared the stage on South-North Cooperation Townhall with Bill Gates and IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva.
He is expected to leave Munich for Ethiopia to attend an African Union summit of Heads of State and Government.
Presidential jet now fit for long haul flights
According to aviation and military sources, the Presidential Jet after refurbishing is now capable of embarking on trips to most countries in Europe, a local newspaper with close links to government reported on February 16.
The Daily Guide newspaper said the upgrade will allows the jet flight times of six hours, as it used to do before the unfortunate incident of September 30, 2018, where it had to land immediately in Washington DC, soon after taking off because it developed a fault.
The jet is usually for the local and international use of the president and key government officials but throughout last year attracted a lot of chatter after North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa reported that it had been abandoned by the president for high-end ultra-luxury-chartered flights.
The government serially refused to disclose the cost of these supposed luxury flights citing national security implications.
SARA
