At the event of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection for the receipt of three Diamond DA62 MPP aircraft of Fire department The Prime Minister spoke at the airport of Megara Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“The AEGIS program represents the largest investment in the resilience of our country in history,” said Mr. Mitsotakis, saying that we are now called upon to manage many and different types of crises. Mr. Mitsotakis expressed his satisfaction, noting that “we are welcoming the first privately owned aircraft in the history of the Fire Department”.
The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Giannis Kefalogiannis he spoke of an essential step in the operational autonomy of the fire brigade, which acquires its own fire fighting means and can intervene autonomously, without limitations and delays.
The operational upgrade actually starts today. As Mr. Kefalogiannis said, on an economic level, aircraft consume significantly less fuel, less personnel and provide multiple flights for the same budget. Civil Protection can respond faster, without increasing its costs.
At the same time, they are multi-tools for security and coordination, which can be used in many missions, in fire fighting, search and rescue and to strengthen the surveillance of the borders and the missions of the Security Forces. “They bring closer institutions and services that serve the same purpose,” he said.
The deputy managing director of the Superfund Panagiotis Stamboulidis stressed that the new early warning aircraft are valuable tools. From next April, three more aircraft will be received and the firefighting helicopters are coming. Both are expected in June 2026, within the AEGIS program. At the same time, the country is upgrading 7 Canadairs.
