Mitsotakis thanks aerial firefighters

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has visited an air base in Elefsina to thank the country’s aerial firefighters.

“I want to say a very big ‘thank you’. I know how difficult it is to do what you do, especially for the [Canadair] CL-215 operators. I am fully aware of what it means to fly airplanes that have seen hard use. And I also know, of course, how much work is done by the support technicians so that you can keep the aircraft in the air,” Mitsotakis told pilots, according to a statement from his office.

“On our part, we have done everything we can to bring the new Canadair 515 as early as possible. We have signed the relevant contract. We took the lead in having a large order from Europe, so that the production line could be moved forward. Because everyone who complains that we don’t have them sooner simply doesn’t know that these planes are not in production and that there has to be a big order to get them underway,” he added.

The premier said that for the next three years at least, the country will have to do with what aerial firefighting equipment it has.

“I’ve said it many times, we’re always striving to improve. We don’t expect the solution to just come out of thin air. Very important work needs to be done in the area of prevention,” he noted.

Mitsotakis also spoke with the American pilots of the Erickson helicopters used in aerial firefighting operations as well as the Italian pilots of the Canadair firefighting aircraft and the French pilots of the SuperPuma helicopter, who have been seconded to Greece through the European Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU) to help in dealing with forest fires. [AMNA]