The prime minister has had to take a commercial flight to Australia after a "maintenance fault" was discovered on the Defence Force plane he was meant to take.
Christopher Luxon is en route to Melbourne to meet with Southeast Asian leaders.
He was due to take off from the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Rongotai at 6am this morning.
However, a pre-flight maintenance check on the aircraft found a "fault" with the Boeing 757, meaning he had to fly commercial.
Stuff reports the PM may miss his first two meetings of the trip due to the delayed landing.
These meetings are with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Lao's prime minister Sonexay Siphandone.
New Zealand's equivalent to Air Force One, the Defence Force's two Boeing 757s, nicknamed "Betty" by some, have recently proved unreliable.
A maintenance fault with the Defence Force plane Christopher Luxon was meant to fly on will see him head to Melbourne commercially instead. Source: 1News (Source: 1News)
Last year, Luxon asked the NZDF to investigate options for the VIP plane, which is over 30 years old and plagued with maintenance issues.
"We've also actually asked Defence to come forward with long-term options for proper travel," he said.
"We want to be out and about in the world... and it's important that we actually can actually get around and actually do what we need to do."
He had been critical of the planes after then-prime minister Chris Hipkins travelled to China, with a backup plane following until Manila. The plane also had to leap-frog to China due to its limited range.
One of the 757s also broke down in May 2022 during a trip to the US by former PM Jacinda Ardern.
It also broke down at least once for former prime minister John Key in 2016. Ardern also hitched a ride with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from the Queen's funeral in October 2022 to a world leaders' meeting due to the 757's limited range.
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