A trip by German Foreign Minister Analena Burbock to the Persian Gulf was marred by technical problems with the aircraft she was traveling on, which is operated and maintained by the Air Force.

On Wednesday, he was unable to return to Berlin from the emirate of Qatar due to a blown chassis tire. Ms Burbock is expected in Germany on Thursday.

According to a representative of German diplomacy, the plane had a technical problem. The Luftwaffe explained that one of the system’s tires had been punctured. The technicians will not be able to replace it with any type of tire, as it would be an unsafe landing.

The “special model” tires were “not available” in Qatar, so a “replacement from Germany” had to be sent, the German Air Force explained via Twitter.

As early as Monday, Ms Bourbok was two hours late to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia due to a technical problem.

Problem history

She is not the first German official whose program has been turned on its head by problems with Luftwaffe aircraft.

In November 2018, a German Air Force Airbus named after Konrad Adenauer was forced to return to Germany carrying then-Chancellor Angela Merkel and later Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf to Buenos Aires for the G20 Soltz Summit due to a breakdown.

In October 2018, rodents gnawed through part of the wiring on the same plane in Indonesia.

While in December 2016, then German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen saw her trip to Mali cut short due to a computer problem on the Airbus A340 aircraft she was on board.

Source: RES-IPE