Has been labelled "embarrassing", as much of the delegation waits to join the prime minister, the New Zealand defence force Boeing 757-200 aircraft flying New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to Japan broke down, forcing the Prime Minister to take a commercial flight.
The Boeing 757 which was supposed to take Prime Minister Chris Luxon and a trade delegation from Papua New Guinea, is stranded on the tarmac at Port Moresby after fuses failed.
The breakdown was the second in three months, with Luxon making a similar last-minute switch to commercial flights in March to attend an Asean summit in Melbourne, when the Defence Force plane broke down before leaving the tarmac in Wellington..
This keeps happening, back in October 2016, the then Prime Minister John Key had to cancel the first day of his trip to India after the aircraft transporting him and 80 other passengers broke down in northern Queensland , after two take off attempts.
They know it very well, in 2019, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's staff pre-purchased a commercial airline flight ticket for her anticipating the breakdown of 757 broke down during a trip to Australia, and the aircraft couldn't fly.
At that time, a technical issue left the Boeing jet sitting on the tarmac at Melbourne Airport for a day, with a replacement air data computer, flown over the Tasman to be fitted.
It wouldn't the last time Ardern would suffer issues with the 757, as the plane broke down after a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden in May 2022.
New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters said :
“This is a plane that’s not being used enough. That’s the expert advice I’ve got from people who know about aeroplanes and sadly that’s just the case where we haven’t taken the right steps over the years to ensure those planes are always on time and don’t break down the way they have of late.”
New Zealand has a fleet of two Boeing 757-200 planes for its political and military leaders, used for official duties and prime ministerial trips.
The over 30-year-old aircraft were in commercial service for 10 years before they were purchased for the Air Force in 2003.
The planes have far exceeded their intended design service goal of 20 years, although a substantial $221 million upgrade in 2008 was expected to expand this beyond 2020.
Display Picture Courtesy : Jenée Tibshraeny
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