The Prime Minister left for China with two planes

Two planes for one prime minister: is it really necessary? On the sidelines of an important meeting between Labor Party Chris Hipkins and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the New Zealand Herald is found that a New Zealand leader’s military aircraft was escorted by a second aircraft. What a disaffected part of the political class, at a time when the climate emergency is front and center.

The Prime Minister’s Office justified sending this rescue plane […] By highlighting its usefulness in the event of a malfunctionconfirms to the Oakland newspaper. He explained that the device did not go beyond the Philippines.

But according to the conservative daily, accusations that additional greenhouse gas emissions from the planes will lead to this “equivalent to that emitted by three Ford Ranger flights from the Earth to the Moon” minute.

Even if it is a two-plane device “Not weird” In some circumstances, both the center-right National Party and the (liberal) Law Party have decried what they see as a waste of fuel.

Frequent outages

Their complaints are not limited to the environmental ramifications of such a trip. In their view, the case highlights the deplorable state of the New Zealand fleet. “It is embarrassing to think that the New Zealand Army’s aircraft are in such poor condition that the Prime Minister should provide a spare aircraft, in case the first one breaks down during a layover,” In particular announced David Seymour, Head of Training Law, citing New Zealand Herald.

In 2016, it was announced that part of the New Zealand hardware would be replaced in early 2020. But the date has since been pushed back to 2028. And this is despite several technical mishaps in recent years.

When they were in power, former New Zealand leaders Jacinda Ardern and John Key had to take over. A series of crashes. In the year 2022, Ardern is stranded overnight in Antarctica, before she is She was rescued by an Italian plane.