3 Prime Ministers Stranded In Frankfurt After Lufthansa’s Passenger System Malfunctions

The Airbus A340-300 scheduled to serve Lufthansa flight LH560 on November 23rd never took off. The stranded passenger manifest included a trio of especially unusual flyers. The prime ministers of Finland, Denmark, and Luxembourg are stuck at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) on their way to the EU-Africa Summit, which is taking place in the Angolan capital of Luanda.

Frankfurt New Press reported that a malfunctioning passenger announcement system prevented the aircraft from taking off at its scheduled departure time that day. The equipment malfunction continued into the evening, which prevented the aircraft from taking off due to sound restrictions, leaving the 3 VIPs stuck until the next morning.

Technical Glitch At Frankfurt

The flight was delayed by over 13 hours, according to FlightAware data. Finland’s Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo, eventually took the flight after the delay. The Prime Ministers of Denmark (Mette Frederiksen) and Luxembourg (Luc Frieden), decided to cancel their trips to the EU-African Union summit in Angola and stayed in Europe.

Before the three heads of state were stranded overnight, their flight had made it to the runway before it was stopped. The night flying curfew in Frankfurt made it impossible for a spare aircraft to take over as a replacement. Lufthansa spokesperson Boris Ogursky told Euractiv:

“We can confirm that our flight LH560 on 23 November had to be delayed by 13.25 hours due to a non-working passenger announcement system… The safety of our flight has the highest priority.”

Now Boarding All Heads Of State

It is rare for many heads of state to travel on commercial aircraft, with the three leaders who were grounded on Sunday being part of a small club. Using commercial flights is viewed as a cost-effective measure by their constituents, as opposed to flying a mobile fortress like the American Air Force One. Petteri Orpo was on the same flight but managed to reach the summit later, allowing him to promote Finnish business investment.

Orpo’s goal was reportedly to promote the EU-Finnfund guarantee program, sponsoring digital investments in Africa. The mission of the 7th EU-African Union Summit was to strengthen the partnership between the two continents under the theme of “Promoting peace and prosperity through effective multilateralism”. Notable attendees from the EU that were present at the summit included:

One of the primary initiatives of the summit was the EU’s Global Gateway Africa-Europe investment package, a €150 billion initiative for investment in infrastructure, green energy, and digital infrastructure. Another topic was a comprehensive partnership to manage migration, including preventing irregular migration, combating human trafficking, and enhancing border management.

There was also a discussion of renewable energy projects. The Africa-Europe green energy initiative aims to provide clean electricity for 100 million people by 2030. Investing in people through health systems, education, and skills development, with a focus on empowering youth and women.

Lufthansa’s Weary Quadjets

The Airbus A340 quadjet airliners in the Lufthansa fleet are currently the oldest airplanes in its inventory at over 26 years old, according to data from Planespotters.net online. It has ordered Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner next-generation widebody twinjets to replace them. However, supply chain issues and production bottlenecks have delayed replacement.

The A340s fill a critical capacity gap in the meantime. The A340-300s are expected to be phased out by 2028. Interestingly, Lufthansa brought a number of A340-600 stretched models back into service due to high demand for the first-class cabin product, which is not available on newer widebody aircraft right now. At least some A340-600s are expected to remain in service until 2026.