Why an Air New Zealand plane made an unscheduled detour in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Surprised passengers on an international commercial flight suffered a bizarre delay after their plane rerouted to pick up New Zealand Prime Minister Cristopher Luxon.
The Air New Zealand flight collected the PM after he was stranded in Papua New Guinea when the government plane he was due to fly broke down on Sunday.
He and a group of 50 prominent business leaders were en route to Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when the Royal New Zealand Defense Force plane they were traveling in stopped in Port Moresby for refueling.
But the 30-year-old Boeing 757 was unable to continue the journey due to a fuse problem.
Mr Luxon and three staff members arrived in Tokyo on time thanks to the commercial flight, while others in 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 failure on the Royal New Zealand Air Force plane he was traveling in
Of the stranded tour group, two had links to Air New Zealand: airline boss Greg Foran and Mr Luxon himself.
The Prime Minister previously spent seven years at the helm of the airline before being elected in 2023.
Despite the windfall, Judith Collins, the country’s defense minister, who was also briefly stranded, told Newstalk ZB the situation was “embarrassing.”
“We have a very old airplane and we expect it to perform like new out of the box, but that’s just not going to happen,” she told the station.
‘No prime minister wants to spend a huge amount of money on something that some people see as fun.’
Mr 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 the 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 to continue their journey
The Royal New Zealand Air Force plane (pictured) had faulty fuses and failed to take off, leaving 50 company executives stranded in Port Moresby overnight.
It is the latest misfortune for Mr Luxon after he was forced to change a commercial flight at the last minute 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 belonging to the country’s defense force.
The series of problems has sparked debate among New Zealand politicians over whether the country can afford to replace them.
A new fleet is due to be introduced by 2028, but a review of defense capabilities later this month could bring it forward to avoid the embarrassing delays.