Paris: A French air force general used a jet trainer to regularly fly to and from his weekend home in Provence, Le Canard Enchaine investigative weekly reported on Wednesday.
The air force’s second-in-command, General Richard Reboul, used an Alphajet trainer aircraft around ten times in the past year to travel from a training academy in Bordeaux, where he is based, to his weekend getaway in Salon-de-Provence about 600 kilometres away, the paper reported.
The one-hour flight to Salon-de-Provence — which also has a training base where he landed — guzzles 800 litres of fuel, according to the Canard.
On one occasion the former fighter pilot used a small military transporter for the trip, the report added.
The defence ministry has ordered an investigation into the report.
“Information on the improper use of air force resources by a senior military officer has come to the attention of the defence minister (Florence Parly),” the ministry said late Tuesday, adding there would be “consequences” if the claims were confirmed.
The air force is also investigating the matter.
The Alphajet, which is jointly manufactured by France’s Dassault Aviation and Germany’s Dornier Flugzeugwerke, is designed for use both in training and light attack missions.
The French use it to train fighter pilots.
