JASDF jumbo :P
Something governmental for a change ;)
Infoo:
The Japanese Air Force One and Japanese Air Force Two are the radio callsigns of the two Boeing 747 aircraft used by the government of Japan for overseas travel by the Emperor, Prime Minister and other high-ranking officials. Each aircraft has a capacity of 140 passengers and can be used for emergency evacuations of Japanese citizens and overseas deployment of Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel. The aircraft are operated by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
They have the radio callsigns Japanese Air Force One and Japanese Air Force Two when operating on official business, and Cygnus One and Cygnus Two when operating outside of official business (e.g., on training flights).
The Japanese government began investigating the possibility of purchasing dedicated government transport aircraft during the 1970s. Much of the impetus came from problems in using JAL: labor unions were unwilling to put aircrews at risk in missions to evacuate Japanese citizens from overseas, and often objected to transporting members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces overseas for political reasons. The privatization of JAL in the mid-1980s hastened the process.
The Cabinet of Japan decided to purchase two Boeing 747-400 aircraft in 1987 in order to have aircraft with worldwide operating range. Another goal of the 36 billion yen purchase was to counterbalance the growing trade deficit between Japan and the US.
Both aircraft were delivered in the fall of 1991 (though one source has the second delivery as being in April 1992). Kiichi Miyazawa was the first prime minister to use the 747 when he visited the US in 1993; the Emperor used the aircraft for the first time later that year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interestingly, the first foreign head of state to use the aircraft was German chancellor Gerhard Schröder in 2002 from Canada to Japan in order to attend the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in Yokohama XD There were problems with flying the German governments A310 from Canada to Japan. The Japanese newspapers called it "Hitchhiking diplomacy" XD
Sadly these two aircraft are to be replaced by a 777-300 in 2019 :/
Thanks to Airbus A330 for the template :P
#744 #747 #747400 #air_force_one #B744 #B747 #B747400 #Boeing #Boeing_744 #Boeing_747 #Boeing_747400 #Government_of_Japan #Japan #Japan_air_self_defence_force #Japanese_air_force #Japanese_air_force_one
- Comments