The Austrian government’s plans for repatriation were reversed at the last minute Austrians who want to leave it Israel due to the outbreak of violence, since the only available C-130 Hercules stuck due to technical problem.
Yesterday, Tuesday, Vienna announced that it would send to Israel a C-130 transport aircraft which would run special flights to transport Austrians to Cyprus. The Austrian government has announced the replacement of aging aircraft of this type, which date back to the 1960s.
Just before take off, in the morning, smoke in the passenger cabin led to the cancellation of the flight and in the transfer of the C-130 to a maintenance hangar.
A few hours later, the Austrian Foreign Ministry announced that it had secured 100 seats on this evening’s Israeli Israir flight to Larnaca.
The incident raised questions about the decision to send a military aircraft despite commercial flights being available, and tarnished the image of Austria’s armed forces.
Austrian Defense Ministry spokesman Michael Bauer wrote in a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter): “Black day for the armed forces: We could not help our compatriots.”
Asked why the transport aircraft was not replaced with one of the other two C-130s, Bauer told the Puls 24 television network: “Both Hercules are undergoing maintenance – one until March and the other until December».
Defense spending has not been among the priorities of governments in Austria in recent years, and some military officials argue that the armed forces are not adequately equipped to defend the country in the event of an attack.
The conservative government has pledged to take the necessary measures to modernize Austria’s armed forces.
Source: News Beast
With 6 years of experience, I bring to the table captivating and informative writing in the world news category. My expertise covers a range of industries, including tourism, technology, forex and stocks. From brief social media posts to in-depth articles, I am dedicated to creating compelling content for various platforms.
