What Aircraft Do Presidents Travel by?

1. Belarus

Belarus government fleet consists of four aircraft - American Boeing 737-800/BBJ2 EW-001PA, the Canadian Bombardier Challenger 850 EW-301PJ and Russian Tu-154 M EW-85 815 and Yak-40 EW-88187, as well as helicopter MI-8 EW -25049.

At the end of 2011, there appeared some information on the intention of Alexander Lukashenko to purchase the aircraft Boeing 767-300, which used to belong to former President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov.

During his visits to the country, the head of state often fly in a helicopter. "I mostly fly in a helicopter to see everything, because one in a car one can see very little... But it is also important because you see all flaws form a helicopter that can’t be immediately eliminated, and this affects my consciousness. So when in a car, or a helicopter - I begin to compare and draw conclusions," he said.

Belarusian "board №1," as well as the presidential helicopter, is painted in the colors of national flag - red and green. The tail of the aircraft is marked with the State Emblem, while the door - inscription "Belarus," marked red. There’s also an emblem above the door of the helicopter.

2. Latvia

President of Latvia Andris Berzins hasn’t got his plane. So, he flies with ordinary passengers on board of commercial aircrafts, mainly airBaltic airlines. Thus, in September 2011, a flight airBaltic was canceled from Brussels to Riga due to technical problems. Andris Berzins was supposed to be on board. AirBaltic reached an agreement with its affiliate company, which took the president from Brussels to Hamburg. From there, he could get to Latvia along with the other passengers.

3. Lithuania

President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite flies by regular air-liners, too. In Europe, she enjoys the economy-class, outside the continent – business-class. However, it is exactly economy class that Grybauskaite has used for her first overseas visits to Sweden and Latvia. At the same time, her flight from Vilnius to Stockholm cost $330.

The reason for this is that the Cabinet has considered the President's private jet as too big a luxury for the country.

For flights Grybauskaite employs cruise aircraft airlines Aeroservisas. If the President landed in a country only in order to transfer to the other aircraft at the airport it is usually only meets Lithuania's Ambassador to this country.

In turn, the airline offers a small airplane of business-class "Cessna 560 Citation V," designed for seven to eight passengers among the country's highest officials. At the same time Aeroservisas director Ben Laurinaytis reported that the plane hadn’t been bought specifically for presidential use. "This is a new product, offered by Aeroservisas to its customers," he said in 2009.

4. Poland

In Poland, local authorities decided to abandon its own fleet, which was disbanded on December 31, 2011. Since then, all the top government officials in Poland fly by LOT airlines. They reserved two aircrafts of the Brazilian production Embraer 175 LR. In addition, the Polish Government may use helicopters MI-8 and PZL W-3 Sokół, stationed at the 1st Base of transport aircraft near Warsaw.

Recall that April 10, 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski's plane Tu-154 crashed near Smolensk. While landing, he caught hold of the tops of trees in poor visibility through heavy fog. 96 people aboard the plane died - 88 passengers, including President Lech Kaczynski, and eight crew members.

5. Russia

Flights of high officials of Russia (President, Prime Minister, the Federation Council, State Duma, the Constitutional Court, the Attorney General, the Head of Administration of the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs) are provided by a special flying squad "Russia," founded in 2009.

The basis of the fleet consisted of IL-62, Tu-134 and Tu-154. But it is constantly updated. In January 2011, Dmitry Medvedev flew by IL-96-300PU RA-96016, issued in 2003 by order of Vladimir Putin. The plane RA-96012, produced in 1996 for Boris Yeltsin, was a reserve aircraft. In addition, a special squad had six short-medium haul aircrafts Tu-214PU and four long haul aircraft IL-96-300PU (M).

The cabin of presidential Il-96-300PU is decorated with tapestries on historical themes inlaid with gold and precious stones, equipped with special communication, allowing calls at any height. There are a few bedrooms, offices and conference rooms, a swimming pool, compartments for protection and maintenance staff and a kitchen in the plane.

To replace "board №1," acquired by predecessors, Dmitry Medvedev has ordered two IL-96-300PU and two An-148 for accompanying persons. Also, there have been bought two aircrafts Dassault Falcon 7x. In addition, the special squad "Russia" was equipped with two aircraft Airbus 319 and two helicopters Augusta in 2011. As of 2011, there were the following aircrafts in the park of Dmitry Medvedev: Dassault Falcon 7x (2), IL-18 (2), IL-62, M (7), IL-96-300 (2), IL-96-300 CP (2), the Tu-134 (10), the Tu-154 M (9), the Tu-214 (3), the Tu-214 PU (2), the Tu-214 PU CP (2), Yak-40 (6) and 14 Mi-8 helicopters.

In January 2012, it became known about the order of three more aircraft Tu-214 CP. In addition, the presidential fleet of aircraft can be added up with "Sukhoi Superjet-100"

6. Ukraine

In Ukraine, the president uses the Russian IL-62 for his flights, while the Prime Minister - also Russian Tu-134. In addition, first persons of Ukraine use helicopters Yak-40 and Mi-8 for flights over short distances.

Viktor Yanukovych also possesses the Airbus A-319-115-XCJ, acquired in October 2007 at the time of Viktor Yushchenko in office. The aircraft cabin has been reequipped for two years in the United States. In July 2010, it was used by the Ukrainian president. February 17, 2012, the Ukrainian Presidential Administration released the information about the aircraft and photographs of its cabin.

Also, in 2010, Viktor Yanukovych acquired the Italian AgustaWestland helicopter 139, which costs $17 million, excluding costs on cabin trim. Thus, the Ukrainian president's helicopter is almost three times more expensive than the helicopter of the U.S. President Barack Obama and about 3.5 times more expensive than the helicopter of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The head of the Ukrainian state flies in the helicopter from his residence in Mezhyhirya to Kiev. This six minute flight costs $1 thousand.

Also, the Ukrainian media reported on the intention of Kiev authorities to allocate 70 acres for a helipad in the heart of the city. In addition, a source at the Ministry of defense informs that the country may create a missile battalion with two anti-aircraft missile systems to protect Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage.