YuropFlyer

Apparently, the German state has hired Lufthansa to provide/prepare several of it's planes for the transport of Ebola patients:

" Die Bundesregierung hat die Lufthansa beauftragt, mehrere Flugzeuge für den Transport von schwer erkrankten Ebola-Patienten auszustatten. "

http://www.op-online.de/nachrichten/...r-4153617.html

Apparently it will feature throw-away equipment worth 200.000US$ to transport a single patient from Africa to Europe.

Not sure if Lufthansa would be happy to call themselves "Official German Ebola carrier" though..

Hope the usage of such planes will not be needed anymore soon and the Ebola outbreak can be contained fully.

mamb0

you misread.
The Government commissioned LH to prepare airplanes for the transport. Not LH Mainline planes, but government/military planes.

I guess LH technik in Hamburg got the gig.

weero

Unlikely if jets will be used to schlepp this infectious disease all across the globe.

The wisdom of government bodies always startles me - a deadly hemorrhagic fever with very limited treatment prospects and the same authorities who force you to quarantine your cat when you travel are willing to fine-distribute a small subset of the patients across the globe so the bug gets a superior head start.

But then we talk about the same clubs/clans/juntas who adamantly insist that liquids make more badass explosives than solids.

LufthansaFlyer

LH Technik will retrofit D-AIGZ into an aircraft capable of safely transporting Ebola patients. Looks like plans call for 4 isolation units in the aircraft, with dedicated ventilation systems not connected to rest of aircraft.

Crews will be volunteer Pilots and Attendants and will be available for any nation needing to transport Ebola patients.

Looks like it will be ready by end of November and will be kept on Stand by for this purpose.

It will be removed from the passenger fleet while it is being used in this capacity.

daumueller

Why would they choose an AC that already got new C? Wouldn't it make more sense to choose one, that will need refitting anyway?

LufthansaFlyer

Good question.

According to Oliver2002, it was supposed to be German Military Aircraft that were to be refitted by Technik for med-evac use. This seems like a recent development. Perhaps the accounting allows them to write off the aircraft as goodwill or some other accounting advantage, but thats just a guess.

c_d

They already have a couple of old military jet equipped with isolation pods. They claim those were unusable because the planes wouldn't support rudimentary medical care in addition to the isolation pods.

Although it's not specifically released in any press release, it appears like Germany and the Armed Forces are just renting it, so it seems not to be a simply write-off. I also would venture a guess that LH is not too sad about renting out one of their gas-guzzling 343 just as they did with making 2 other 340's "available" to the German government.

TRAVELSIG

Thanks for sharing! Interesting contribution from LH.

bhomburg

yes. The Luftwaffe A310 military ambulance planes currently in use for isolation transports do not allow any sort of inflight care for isolation patients. They don't have the range for nonstop travel as well.
Same with the ex-Danish Gulfstream III business jets the government chartered for this purpose before from Phoenix Air- also, there's only two of of those worldwide, and they can transport only one patient at a time. Not enough capacity for a large-scale operation like the one ongoing in East Africa.
The German government will make this plane available to anyone needing it.

That D-AIGZ was selected for this duty despite already being converted with new C has one simple reason: AIGZ is the only A340 in the fleet that is already (factory-) prepared for quick installation of an 'ambulance module'. There's wiring and connectors to accept a 'Patient Transportation Compartment' already in place, which makes this conversion quick and cost-effective.

A classic win-win, I'd say. The relief effort wins, the world gets something they need, LH wins because they can rent out another unprofitable 343, and the German taxpayers win because the costs for this is lower than the alternatives....

weero

A giant effort and fuel burn just to get Ebola airborne? Exactly what the world needs at this stage.

But I guess it is just a politics/LH crony stunt and won't really be used to spread the disease across the globe .

c_d

Wow - what a detailed piece of background information. Would have never thought about this as a reason, thanks!

LufthansaFlyer

Oliver2002 forwarded this link to me with GZ out of LH and in DE livery:


http://www.netairspace.com/photos/D-...l/photo_61102/

NewbieRunner

GZ has been renamed "Robert Koch", flew to DUB for repainting and is now back in HAM.
D-AIGZ in DUB on Sunday and showing its new name in HAM.

Some FTers had a close look at GZ while she was being retrofitted with new C seats in HAM in May.

oliver2002

GZ is done with the retrofit and did its testflight today:
http://www.flightradar24.com/data/ai...d-aigz#4e6d79a

Curious routing, did they try to draw an ebola virus in the sky?

Some video: http://youtu.be/rNiGq7R1KhA



In any case formal handover to German Air Force is tomorrow in SXF.

MarcoGT

Seen today during approach...