G7 summit: Biden drove to Elmau in a huge motorcade - now it's clear why he didn't fly

Created: 06/27/2022, 09:56 am

By: Veronika Mahnkopf

There has been speculation since Saturday evening as to why US President Joe Biden was not flown to the G7 summit in Elmau by helicopter.

Now the background has been explained.

Elmau/Garmisch-Partenkirchen – US President Joe Biden did not fly the last few kilometers to the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau – he was driven.

In contrast to most of the other high-ranking guests, the 79-year-old was escorted around 40 kilometers from the Ohlstadt airport to the conference hotel in a long motorcade on Sunday night.

G7 summit 2022 in Elmau: Biden arrives by car

The reason, according to information from the German Press Agency: Due to bad weather, the US President's pilots were not able to practice landing near Schloss Elmau sufficiently often in the days before the summit.

The “Bild” newspaper first reported on this.

A few hundred meters above the hotel, a large hiking car park was paved especially for the G7 summit, so that several helicopters can land there for important guests.

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G7 summit 2022 in Elmau: kilometer-long roadblock for US President Biden

Miles of roads were blocked for the US President's motorcade.

In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, numerous onlookers watched behind barriers as the escort passed the city shortly after midnight.

However, Biden was not traveling in one of his famous limousines called “The Beast”, but in a kind of off-road vehicle.

In the live ticker for the G7 summit 2022 in Elmau we report on the news from the region.

You can find more current news about the 2022 summit at Merkur.de/G7-Gipfel Elmau