On 8 November 2009 Macedonia took delivery of two new Air Tractor AT-802A "Fire Boss" amphibious fire-fighting aircraft at Skopje - Alexander the Great International Airport. The delivery is in line with the 10,3 million USD Purchase Contract that Director of Macedonia's Protection and Rescue Directorate, Shaban Saliu, signed in Skopje on 5 March 2009 with the Spanish company "Air Tractor Europe S.L." for the purchase of three AT-802A "Fire Boss" planes, related aircraft equipment, spare parts and training for pilots, engineers and mechanics. The two recently delivered planes (EC-KTP, s/n 802A-0280; and EC-KZQ, s/n 802A-0313) have been produced by the US company Air Tractor Inc. following what they have been modified into amphibians by Valencia/Spain-based "Air Tractor Europe S.L.".

The ferry flight of two aircraft from Spain to Macedonia lasted four days due to negative weather conditions. It started on 5 November when planes left Valencia on their way to Mahon airport, located on the Spanish island Menorca. The following day both aircraft entered Italian airspace and landed at Olbia airport on the island of Sardinia. The next stop on their route to Macedonia was Grottaglie airport, located on Italian peninsula Salento, where planes landed in the afternoon of 7 November. The final part of the 2.000km-long ferry flight was performed on 8 November when aircraft took off from Grottaglie and after short stop and refuelling at Corfu airport, in Greece, in an awful weather conditions continued to their final destination Skopje - Alexander the Great International Airport where they landed at 1553 local time.

 Although flown by Spanish pilots and wearing Spanish registrations and flag, the aircraft arrived Macedonia with inscription "Protection and Rescue Directorate - Republic of Macedonia" applied on the left floats with its Macedonian alphabet translation "Direkcija za zastita i spasuvanje - Republika Makedonija" applied on the right floats. Both planes had also Protection and Rescue Directorate emblem applied on each float and aft to the cockpit. Following official acceptance by the Protection and Rescue Directorate a demo flights with water drops have been performed for the Government of Macedonia on 11 November. After completing the Macedonian CAA inspection process planes will get full Macedonian identity - EC-KTP will became Z3-BGT, EC-KZQ will became Z3-BGU, and Macedonian national flag will replace the Spanish one on the tail of both aircraft. The third Macedonian AT-802A Fire Boss (EC-LCK, c/n 802A-0329) is scheduled for delivery, weather permitting, in February 2010, and this will wear Macedonian civil registration Z3-BGV.

 Macedonian AT-802A "Fire Boss" fleet will serve within the newly created Aviation Unit of the Protection and Rescue Directorate (Avijacisko Oddelenie na Direkcijata za zastita i spasuvanje) and will use Skopje - Alexander the Great international airport as their home base. Ohrid St. Paul the Apostole international airport located in south-west Macedonia will be used as an alternative and forward operating base during summer season. Protection and Rescue Directorate intentions are to use its small AT-802A fleet for conducting fire-fighting operations, reconnaissance flights for early spotting of wildfires, agricultural crop spraying , aerial hydro-mulching and hydro-seeding as well as for conducting regular flights and exercises to keep pilots in condition. For eventual use of smaller paved/unpaved alternative airfields available across Macedonia and for performing agricultural operations, Protection and Rescue Directorate got delivered classic tricycle-type landing gear and dispersal equipment for each purchased aircraft. The planes will primarily be used on the territory of Macedonia but will also be available to countries in need of their fire-fighting capabilities, especially to Balkan states of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.

COPYRIGHT: IGOR BOZINOVSKI