Czechia to buy new government aircraft for officials and president

The Defense Ministry plans to buy new aircraft for the army to carry top officials on foreign trips. Defense Minister Jaromír Zůna (SPD) said the cabinet should consider renewing the government fleet, which currently rests on two specially equipped Airbus A-319CJ jets that the army operates from Prague’s Kbely airfield.

Four new aircraft

“We will be buying aircraft in this category, and we would also like to acquire a smaller machine, a so-called business jet,” Zůna said. The army will also buy a small L-410 for short flights, so it will end up with four new aircraft in total. “All of this is in the plans. The Czech Army is preparing the specifications, and we plan to make this purchase in the future,” the minister added.

Demand on the passenger aircraft market is currently high, and waiting times are fairly long, according to Zůna. The defense minister did not want to predict when the army could receive the aircraft. “That depends on the procurement process,” he said at the Future Forces Exhibition & Forum 2026.

The old Airbus jets keep breaking down

The army’s two Airbus planes are twenty years old and often break down. The latest incident affected a state delegation in Azerbaijan last week: Transport Minister Ivan Bednárik (SPD) and a group of Czech businesspeople had to rush from there to Kyrgyzstan on a commercial flight. Radek Špicar, vice president of the Confederation of Industry and Transport, is among those who have criticized the state of the aircraft.

Next year the existing Airbus jets will undergo modernization and a major cabin overhaul costing more than 1 billion koruna. “It will mainly concern the interior equipment, avionics and other systems,” Zůna explained. Thanks to extra fuel tanks, one of the aircraft can fly farther, but both planes still make a refueling stop on long transoceanic flights.

The money will be in the budget

Zůna stressed that the cabinet of Andrej Babiš (ANO) will provide funds for a large-scale renewal. “There will be money for this in the budget,” he said. When the state bought the pair of Airbus jets two decades ago, it paid more than 3 billion koruna for them. The government could count the cost as defense spending, since the aircraft will belong to the air force.

Prime Minister Babiš confirmed the intention to buy new aircraft for top officials as early as last week: “Minister Zůna was given this task several months ago. He is supposed to buy a few aircraft, one of them an L-410.”

Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motoristé) would also support replacing the government aircraft: “Luckily, I have not run into problems. I mostly don’t use the special aircraft and travel on commercial flights, which is significantly cheaper, but I share the call to renew the fleet.”

President Petr Pavel also uses the government Airbus jets for official trips. The state has used them to evacuate Czech citizens from abroad as well, for example soon after the conflict between the U.S. and Iran began, when Iran shelled civilian targets in neighboring countries where 6,700 Czech citizens were staying. Because of their limited capacity, private Smartwings aircraft chartered by the state also had to help. Three years ago Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also used one of the government Airbus jets: it took him on a visit to Prague, and two army JAS-39C Gripen fighters escorted him in Czech airspace.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz