Colombian Air Force One

[citation needed] In 1933, the first aircraft entered service, the FAC 625 Junkers Ju-52/3mge, which made its maiden voyage with President Enrique Olaya Herrera.

This plane transported Presidents Belisario Betancur, Virgilio Barco, César Gaviria, Ernesto Samper, Andrés Pastrana and Álvaro Uribe abroad.

It was incorporated in 2013 to replace the FAC 1201 “Zeus”, for international flights, such as Santos' trip to Oslo, Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016, and that of Iván Duque Márquez to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

It also serves as a tanker, cargo plane and for humanitarian missions, such as the one in 2020, in which it was sent to China to repatriate Colombians who had been trapped at the beginning of the health emergency due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Given the obvious mechanical wear on the Fokker F-28 after more than 30 years of service, the process to acquire a new presidential plane for Colombia began in October 2002.

For this, the Colombian Air Force studied various proposals submitted by companies in the aerospace sector from Canada, Brazil, France, the United States and the European Airbus consortium.