Belgian Foreign minister arrives late to Latin America summit after series of plane malfunctions
Belgian Foreign minister Maxime Prévot and a delegation of MPs arrived in Santa Marta, Colombia, on Sunday evening, 24 hours late, after a string of aircraft problems disrupted their trip to the EU-CELAC summit, a major meeting between European and Latin American leaders.
The delegation’s aircraft, a Falcon 7X operated by the Belgian Defence Ministry, first had to turn back over the UK on Saturday due to a fuel issue. After being repaired in Belgium, the plane took off again but was forced to make an emergency landing in Sint Maarten, in the Caribbean, because of an engine problem.
Fire crews were on standby, but the landing went smoothly. The group spent the night on the island before Defence chartered a Gulfstream V to complete the journey.
Because of the delay, Prévot missed the start of the summit and several scheduled meetings with regional leaders and NGOs. He did, however, arrive in time to deliver his speech during the final plenary session. His team said some bilateral talks with Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and Jamaica were re-arranged for later in the mission, which will also include a stop in Mexico.
Prévot’s spokesperson called the incident “damaging to Belgium’s credibility”, noting it was the latest in a series of aviation mishaps involving Belgian government and royal delegations. Recent issues have included delayed flights to and from Chile during a royal mission and previous technical failures on official aircraft.
Defence minister Theo Francken (N-VA) has since renewed calls to replace Belgium’s ageing “white fleet”, the small group of government aircraft used for official and royal travel. He confirmed plans to buy two new non-military planes as part of a defence bill being debated in parliament this week.
The current lease for the Falcons expires in 2028.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prevot arrives at Santa Marta airport © BELGA PHOTO MARIE DOSQUET