The Czech Defence Ministry put up another tender for a small plane intended to transport government officials with an estimated cost of 661 million crowns without VAT, according to documentation published at the National Electronic Tool (NEN) website.
The specifications state that the plane should be able to transport 14-19 passengers, its cabin should have four chairs and a table and at least six places for sleeping.
Other prerequisites detail that the plane should be a two-engine machine manufactured after January 2012 and have less than 4,000 flight hours. It should be capable of transporting at least ten passengers on journeys longer than 8,000 kilometers.
The tender also includes two years of maintenance and repairs.
The ministry already announced a bid for a business jet on September 12, but received only a single offer that did not fulfil the specifications.
Due to malfunctions and planned maintenance, the military has been facing a long-term shortage of available planes for transporting politicians.
The supreme elected officials met in October and decided that the capacity of the governmental fleet is insufficient and needs to be expanded.
The Defence Ministry stated earlier that the currently available aircraft do not fulfil all prerequisites.
At the moment, the army uses two Airbus A-319 jet airliners for the transport of officials, but these machines are inefficient when transporting a smaller number of passengers.
The lifespan of two JAK-40 planes made at the end of the 1970s, which the military also has at its disposal, will expire soon and they are to be scrapped next year.
The Challenger CL-601, made 30 years ago, has frequent defects, the soldiers complain.
The miliary also uses four CASA C-295M aircraft, but they are only used for the transport of soldiers. They have a shorter flight range and their cabin is very loud, so headphones are provided.
($1 = 22.974 crowns)
