Airbus A318: A baby bus on a special mission in Geneva
An Airbus A318 with a special call sign was seen in Geneva these days. In the meantime, the small aircraft model has become a rarity.
On June 16, a baby bus landed in Geneva. That’s what fans call the smallest member of the Airbus A320 family. And it wasn’t just any Airbus A318. Rather a relatively rare A318 Elite ACJ, registration LX-LTI, owned by Global Jet Luxembourg. The callsign with which the plane was flying: Togo 1.
The name war program. Because: Politicians from the United States who traveled to the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva may have been on board. You will discuss the work of the World Trade Organization and review the functioning of the multilateral trading system. The conference was originally planned for June 2020 and was to take place in Kazakhstan. But it was postponed because of the pandemic.
No own air force
Togo is a small country with a very small air force of its own. She owns only two Beechcraft King Airs, a Fokker F-28, three or four Socata TB-30 trainers, two Mil Mi-17, a Dauphin and a few Gazelle helicopters. The few Alpha Jet light attack and trainer aircraft are probably in storage and not operational. There are currently no large aircraft on the register. In the past, you flew Douglas C-47 Dakota, Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 720. Therefore, you have to charter planes for government travel.
The Airbus A318 is the smallest and least produced Airbus, of which only 80 examples were built. An unexpected number have since been scrapped – for example those owned by US operator Frontier Airlines and most belonging to Avianca Brasil. Even the largest operator, Air France, has started phasing them out and scrapping them. Less than half of 80’s built are still in service. A total of 20 A318s were configured as ACJ business jet versions. Currently 19 of the 20 ACJs built are in service.