WELLINGTON, June 17 — New Zealand’s prime minister was forced to take a commercial flight to Japan after his air force plane broke down while refuelling in Papua New Guinea, his office said today.
Christopher Luxon switched late Sunday to a scheduled flight from Port Moresby to Tokyo via Hong Kong because of a technical issue with the New Zealand Defence Force Boeing 757 aircraft he had been flying on.
A problem with a command module for a small flap on the wing meant the aircraft could not fly as high or as fast as normal, affecting its range, a defence spokesperson said.
It was detected while the plane was on the ground in Papua New Guinea.
A delegation of business leaders and journalists accompanying Luxon had to wait until Monday to fly on the air force 757 to Brisbane and then catch a commercial flight to Tokyo, the spokesperson said.
Luxon is expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his four-day visit.
In March, the New Zealand leader had to fly commercial to Australia for meetings with Southeast Asian leaders after a problem with the landing gear grounded his defence force plane while still on the tarmac in Wellington. — AFP