New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has landed in Beijing this morning on a Royal NZ Air Force Boeing 757 aircraft , but an identical but empty back up airforce B757 aircraft accompanied the Prime minister till Manila, Philippines.
Opposition is critical on the move of the Government, but the Prime Minister’s office has defended the backup plane for Chris Hipkins’ trip to China, citing chances of a breakdown. It has also added that the aircraft did not travel all the way to Beijing , and is instead on standby in Manila.
Sources say, the current decision to fly a backup comes after former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had to contend with a series of breakdowns in her time , a repeat of occurrence from former Prime Minister John Key’s tenure, that has also raised questions about bringing forward the current replacements schedule of the planes , set to occur between 2028 and 2030.
Royal NZ Air Force's 30 years plus old B757-2K2C planes have been regularly grounded due to technical issues and costly breakdowns, also causing disruption to the Goverment's scheduled visits.
Christopher Luxon — the National Party leader said , Hipkins should have refrained from flying two planes and, along with carbon emissions Act, criticised what he saw as an unnecessary burning of fuel and associated carbon dioxide emissions in a climate emergency. Act leader David Seymour said it was emblematic of an “embarrassing” and “out-of-date” air fleet.
“New Zealand’s embarrassingly ancient Defence Force planes are so decrepit that the PM has to bring a spare in case one of them breaks down on a stopover,” Seymour said.
“The emissions created by taking the extra plane is the equivalent of driving a Ford Ranger the distance of a trip to the moon three times.”
Hipkins is in China for a week doing a series of high level political meetings including with President Xi Jinping as well as business meetings with New Zealand exporters. He has brought a large business and trade delegation, as well as journalists, on the trip.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said the two planes had not travelled to China. The backup aircraft went to Manila, Philippines, and would now proceed to Cairns.
“Backup was put in place in the event that the flight broke down on the way up, but it is not shadowing the plane around China,” he said.
Government spokesperson also referenced embarrassing situations under former National Prime Minister John Key when a “highly-publicised series of breakdowns” affected a delegation he led in 2016.
As per the Spokesperson , following such incidents, Rules have been updated to provide for backup aircraft based on the circumstances of a trip, and it is not unusual that in some instances backup aircraft are provided.
Worth noting, Last time , Ardern was stranded in Antarctica and had to be saved by the Italians , while the then-defence minister Peeni Henare was stranded in the Solomon Islands at one point as well after an Air Force C-130 Hercules broke down.
Photo : Thomas Coughlan
