Netanyahu’s plane leaves for Greece, but without the prime minister

Israeli board No. 1 – aircraft “Knaf-Zion” (“Wing of Zion”) made its first full-fledged flight to a foreign country on Wednesday, February 21. The airliner with technical personnel on board departed for the capital of Greece, Athens.

Flight of the Knaf-Zion plane to Athens

As Ynet learned, after landing at the destination airport, the plane will spend several hours in Athens and then return to Israel in the evening hours. The approximately 20 crew members on board will test various systems of the aircraft during the flight.

After this flight, the Zion Wing aircraft, which had been sitting unused in a hangar for several years, will be transferred to regular operation. Previously, he successfully completed a full flight in the skies of Israel. The liner will be used to transport the country’s top officials – President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At the end of January 2024, board number 1 committed the first simulation flight, taking on board 50 employees of the Prime Minister’s Office, security guards, engineers, employees of the Aviation Industry concern, flight attendants and crew members. Two participants in the flight took on the roles of the Prime Minister and his wife.

This is not the first test flight of aircraft No. 1, however, in this case it took place with the presence of a relatively large number of passengers, as well as Netanyahu’s spouses playing the role. During the flight, the airliner’s kitchen was also used for the first time. The stewards served hot lunches to the “prime minister and his wife” and accompanying persons.

The purpose of the flight was to test all systems, including special means of protection against threats during the flight, and correct deficiencies in the work, if any were discovered. According to the assurances of the maintenance personnel, the flight was successful, after which it was stated that the Knaf-Zion was ready for operation.

Taking off from the IDF Nevatim Air Force Base in the south of the country, the plane made several circles in the skies over Israel and returned to the airfield.

Let us remind you that the Knaf-Zion is a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, specially equipped for the needs of the Prime Minister and President of Israel, in the past it belonged to the Australian airline Qantas. He arrived in Israel from the American state of Ohio on July 22, 2016. The aircraft was produced around 2001.

In 2015, the military-political cabinet allocated 729 million shekels for the purchase and re-equipment of the aircraft – 393 million for the purchase and repair and another 336 million for the maintenance of the aircraft for 5 years. These amounts were allocated a year after the Ministry of Finance estimated the expected costs at 175 million. In November 2018, another 60 million was added to the aircraft budget “due to increased flight costs.”

At the beginning of 2020, Netanyahu asked to appoint the head of flight number 1 to a permanent position with a salary of hundreds of thousands of shekels per year. Thus, the total cost of the Knaf-Zion project amounted to a billion shekels – although the plane has not yet made even one flight.

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