German foreign minister cancels Indo-Pacific travel after plane suffers technical snag

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had to cancel her planned trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji due torecurring mechanical problems with her government plane.

"We tried everything but unfortunately it's logistically not possible to carry out my Indo-Pacific travel (plans) without the defective plane," the minister wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"That is more than annoying," she added.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Baerbock had left for a week-long trip but her plane suffered some technical issues after refuelling in Abu Dhabi.

She was left stranded for hours while her crew tried to fix the problem.

Her delegation sought to get underway again overnight to Tuesday but the plane, which is a 23-year-old Airbus A340, had to be taken back to Abu Dhabi when the defect resurfaced.

A foreign ministry spokesperson took to X and said that the plane had attempted to make the journey from Abu Dhabi twice but was forced to return for safety reasons due to a technical malfunction with the wing flaps.

"For security reasons, the plane had to return there," wrote the German air force on X. The aircraft had to dump fuel to land safely in Abu Dhabi again, it added.

The incident rekindled debate about the German government's ageing planes, with some media reports terming the mishap as "embarrassing" and a "fiasco".

Germany's Luftwaffe air force takes planes out of service after embarrassment

The mishap pushed Germany's Luftwaffe air force to make an announcement on retiring the plane early along with the government's other A340-300.

"We will take the two A340s out of service as soon as possible, i.e. in the coming weeks ahead of schedule," the Luftwaffe wrote on X.

As per news agency AFP reports, the government had bought three new A350s for roughly $1.3 billion in the year 2019 in order to upgrade the fleet and had also planned to stop using the plane carrying Baerbock by the end of year 2024.

"With the A350s, the air force has robust and modern aircraft at its disposal for long-haul operations," the Luftwaffe said.

In the month of May, Baerbock had to extend her tip to Qatar by a day after another government plane developed a flat tyre.

The Australian foreign ministry said it shared "minister Baerbock's disappointment" over this week's aborted trip.

"We look forward to welcoming her to Australia in the future," a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

New Zealand's foreign ministry said it hoped "there will be an opportunity for the ministers to catch up in the future".

"It's simply embarrassing that the foreign minister couldn't continue her trip," Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the head of Germany's parliamentary defence committee, told local media.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.