The Yak-40 aircraft were ceremonially decommissioned at the 24th Transport Air Force Base in Prague – Kbely. Senior defence officials and other distinguished guests witnessed their last flypast.
“It must be very emotional for you, the airmen, to say farewell to an aircraft you spent thousands of flight hours on. And I am sure all you engineers and mechanics feel the same, since you are closely familiar with every single little screw,” said the Deputy Minister for Armaments and Acquisition of the Ministry of Defence, Lubor Koudelka. He added that the Armed Forces will receive an adequate replacement for both aircraft. “The CASA aircraft has proved its strengths not only in airlifting our military professionals but also in the support of international operations.” In his address, the Deputy Minister also mentioned that this replacement is a necessary step in the modernisation of the Czech Air Force.
Deputy Air Force Commander, Brigadier General Petr Lanči, underlined the 20 years of service of the Yak-40 aircraft and recalled their mission. To conclude, he praised all military professionals, pilots and ground personnel for the care they provided during their years of service.
Czechoslovakia as one of the biggest buyers
The first prototype of the Yakovlev Yak-40 three-engine jet airplane took off on 21 October 1966. A total of 1,011 units were built and 125 of them were delivered to foreign customers in 18 countries, with Czechoslovakia being one of the largest buyers. The Czechoslovak Airlines acquired seventeen Yak-40 aircraft between 1974 and 1977 and the Ministry of the Interior added eight aircraft to their fleet (also known as the Government Fleet) between 1972 and 1979 to transport governmental officials.
The decision to reassign two of the Yak-40 aircraft from the Ministry of the Interior to the Armed Forces was made in 1981 and it led to the retraining of both the air and land personnel of the former 3rd Air Transport Regiment in Prague – Kbely. The planes started to be used for the transport of military officials, which, however, at that time only included the territory of Czechoslovakia and, alternatively, neighbouring countries of the Warsaw Treaty.
After the establishment of the Czech Republic in 1993, aerial transport of state officials was still being provided by the Ministry of the Interior, or more precisely, its fleet, which was renamed the State Air Unit. After numerous discussions, the Czech Government decided in 1998 to follow the same system as most NATO nations and put the Air Force in charge of this prestigious task. The State Air Unit of the Ministry of the Interior was abolished on 31 December 1998 and the tasks related to the transport of VIPs were assumed by the former 6th Transport Air Force Base in Prague – Kbely.
Czech Armed Forces decommissioned Yak-40 aircraft
Autor: Jan Kouba