WARSAW, Poland (AP) - The first of Western-made jet aircraft for carrying government officials has arrived in Poland.
On Wednesday, a Gulfstream G550 capable of carrying 19 people arrived in Warsaw to an official welcome and Catholic blessing.
For over two decades, consecutive governments postponed the costly purchase of VIP planes, though the Soviet-made fleet inherited from the communist era was aging and developing technical problems.
In 1999 a government plane made an emergency landing in the Saudi Arabian desert. There were other incidents.
The current government decided to buy two Gulfstream G550 and three Boeing 737 jets.
The ruling party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, is sensitive to air travel safety after his twin, President Lech Kaczynski was killed in a 2010 plane crash, which, however, was not blamed on any technical issues.
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