Shocked passengers on an international commercial flight suffered a strange delay after their plane was diverted to pick up New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
The Air New Zealand flight picked up the prime minister after he was stranded in Papua New Guinea when the government plane he was due to fly on broke down on Sunday.
He and a group of 50 prominent business leaders were heading to Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when the Royal New Zealand Defense Force plane they were traveling on stopped in Port Moresby to refuel.
But the 30-year-old Boeing 757 was unable to continue the journey due to a fuse problem.
Luxon and three staff members arrived in Tokyo on time thanks to the commercial flight, while other members of the group spent the night in Port Moresby.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (pictured) was briefly stranded in Papua New Guinea after a fuse malfunction on the Royal New Zealand Air Force plane he was traveling on.
Of the group of stranded travelers, two had links to Air New Zealand: the airline’s boss, Greg Foran, and Luxon himself.
The Prime Minister spent seven years at the helm of the airline before being elected to the position in 2023.
Despite the stroke of good luck, the country’s Defense Minister, who was also briefly stranded, Judith Collins, told Newstalk ZB the situation was “shameful”.
“We have a very old plane and we expect it to run like new right out of the box, but that’s just not going to happen,” he told the radio station.
“No prime minister wants to spend a huge amount of money on something that some people consider nice to have.”
Foran said the cost of diverting one of his own commercial flights to pick up the group was a matter for another day.
“Let’s get everyone there, we’ll worry about what we’re going to do financially when we get everyone there,” he told media.
An Air New Zealand commercial flight was diverted to Port Moresby to pick up Mr Luxon (pictured with PNG Prime Minister James Marape) and three staff members to continue their journey.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force plane (pictured) had faulty fuses and was unable to take off, leaving 50 business leaders stranded in Port Moresby for the night.
It is the latest airline failure for Luxon after it was forced to make a last-minute change to a commercial flight to attend the Asean summit in Melbourne in March.
Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had similar trips to Washington and Australia delayed by problems with planes that are part of the country’s defense forces.
The series of issues has sparked debate among New Zealand politicians about whether the country can afford to replace them.
A new fleet is due to be introduced by 2028, however a defense capability review due later this month may see it brought forward to avoid embarrassing delays.
