Chris Hipkins, the prime minister of New Zealand, traveled to China in two air force jets in case the one he was in broke down.
In an effort to increase trade with his country’s largest export market, Hipkins led a delegation of business executives on a Sunday flight to Beijing in a Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing 757.
According to a statement made by the Prime Minister’s office on Monday in Wellington, a second 757 traveled with the first one all the way to Manila in the Philippines as a backup in case of any mechanical issues.
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.”
As New Zealand PM flew to China with 2 Air Force Jets “For Backup”, 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.
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“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.
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.”
“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 “New Zealand’s out-of-date air fleet is becoming a source of national embarrassment.”
Politicians have frequently been left stranded by the aging air force fleet of New Zealand because of mechanical issues.
Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was stranded in Antarctica last year after her C-130 transport plane malfunctioned. She needed to be transported home by an Italian plane.
Earlier in 2022, when Ardern was in the US for a meeting with President Joe Biden, her Boeing broke down in Washington, forcing her to depart on a commercial flight. Last year, Defence Minister Peeni Henare and a 30-person delegation were stranded in the Solomon Islands due to another breakdown.
In 2016, the 757 carrying a trade delegation to India broke down, leaving the then-prime minister John Key stranded in the Australian city of Townsville for the night. Key’s group had to cut their visit to India short by a day after the air force sent out a second plane.
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.”
