The European Union wants to sign contracts this year for up to 12 firefighting planes, the first it would fully own, to improve its ability to fight blazes fuelled by climate change, the bloc's head of crisis management said.
The EU doubled its existing reserve fleet of firefighting aircraft in the past year, after devastating fires last summer in southern EuropeThat fleet comprises 28 aircraft, which the EU pays to lease from EU countries' own fleets or the market, to form a bloc-wide buffer during the wildfire season. That doubling of numbers is expected to cost 23 million euros, the Commission said.
"We could have the first planes delivered two years later. And the whole fleet would be there by the end of the decade," Lenarcic told Reuters. Manufacturer De Havilland Canada has agreed to re-launch production of the so-called "Canadair" aircraft, if the EU orders are placed, Lenarcic said. Six member states would sign the contracts: Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The EU would finance the purchase of the 12 planes for its own fleet, while member states would pay for their own.
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