New Zealand PM travels to Japan in commercial flight after Defence Force plane breaks down
Jun 17, 2024
Wellington [New Zealand], June 17 : New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon boarded a commercial flight after the Defence Force plane taking him to Japan blew two fuses in Papua New Guinea. Luxon was travelling to Tokyo with a business delegation when the plane blew two fuses, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported.
Luxon was supposed to stay in Port Moresby for 90 minutes on Sunday while the Boeing 757 was refuelled. After an hour's delay, a Defence Force spokesperson stated that the aircraft had blown not one, but two, fuses. Luxon then boarded a commercial flight from Papua New Guinea to Japan and will head there via Hong Kong.
Over 30 companies are represented on the trip, including Silver Fern Farms, Zespri, Air New Zealand, ANZ, Fonterra and Rocket Lab, according to RNZ report.
Speaking to RNZ, New Zealand's Trade Minister Todd McClay said that the government would pay for 52-person media and business delegation commercial flight tickets to fly to Japan.
Late on Sunday, the delegation members were informed that they would stay in Papua New Guinea overnight and a diverted Air New Zealand service would then take them to Tokyo. McClay stated that the cost of that flight was unknown.
Earlier this year, Luxon was forced to fly in a commercial flight to Melbourne, when the plane broke down before leaving the tarmac in Wellington.
He was scheduled to meet leaders of Southeast Asian nations, on the sidelines of a special Australia-ASEAN summit, and missed two meetings as he arrived late, RNZ reported.
At the time, New Zealand's Defence Minister Judith Collins said it was "embarrassing" that the plane had broken down. However, he acknowledged that upgrading the Defence Force's ageing fleet would cost tens to hundreds of millions.
Collins had brought forward the Defence Force capability review from September to June. She stated that they would be waiting for the outcome of that before making any decisions on the Defence Force's fleet.
