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<\/div>\nNew Zealand’s aging air force fleet has a track record of stranding politicians.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins took two air force jets with him on a trip to China in case the one he was traveling in broke down.<\/p>\n
Hipkins flew to Beijing on Sunday in a Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing 757, leading a delegation of company executives in the hope of\u00a0expanding trade\u00a0with his nation’s biggest export market. A second 757 accompanied the first as far as Manila in the Philippines, acting as a backup in case of any mechanical problems, the Prime Minister’s office said Monday in Wellington.<\/p>\n
Given the importance of the trip and the long distance involved, “it was considered that a backup aircraft was justified to ensure the success of the mission to our largest trade partner,” a spokesperson said. “The 757s are around 30 years old, are nearing the end of their economic lives, and are due for replacement between 2028 and 2030.”<\/p>\n
Opposition parties said the need to take a second aircraft was an environmental embarrassment to the country and illustrated the poor state of its defense force.<\/p>\n
“If we’ve got a climate emergency it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have a second 30-year-old 757 trailing the other one,” Christopher Luxon, leader of the main opposition National Party, told NewstalkZB.<\/p>\n
David Seymour, leader of the libertarian ACT Party, claimed the amount of CO2 emitted by the extra plane “would be the equivalent of someone driving a Ford Ranger 606 times the length of New Zealand.”<\/p>\n
“Some people might bring a spare phone charger with them while traveling overseas in case they lose one or it breaks. Chris Hipkins needs to bring a spare Boeing aircraft with him,” said Seymour. “New Zealand’s out-of-date air fleet is becoming a source of national embarrassment.”<\/p>\n
New Zealand’s aging air force fleet has a track record of stranding politicians due to mechanical problems.<\/p>\n
Last year, then prime minister Jacinda Ardern got stuck on Antarctica when her air force C-130 transport plane broke down. She had to be flown home by an Italian aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Ardern visited the US earlier in 2022 to meet with President Joe Biden, her Boeing broke down in Washington and she had to leave on a commercial flight instead. Another breakdown last year left Defence Minister Peeni Henare and a 30-strong delegation stuck in the Solomon Islands.<\/p>\n
In 2016, then prime minister John Key was stuck in the Australian city of Townsville overnight after the 757 carrying a trade delegation to India broke down. The air force dispatched a second plane, and Key’s group had to shorten its visit to India by a day.<\/p>\n
Hipkins’ spokesperson said the second aircraft will now fly to Darwin in Australia “to provide support for the return journey of the primary aircraft if required.”<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n