Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is stuck in Delhi following the end of the G20 summit in India after his official jet broke down and couldn’t be fixed.
As other world leaders made quick escapes from Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on their private VIP jets, a spokesperson for the Canadian government had to make an embarrassing admission on Sunday evening – their delegation was going nowhere anytime soon.
The Prime Minister’s office didn’t provide details on what exactly was wrong with the jet but explained that the technical issues couldn’t be fixed overnight and that the entire entourage would have to remain in Delhi until “alternate arrangements” were made.
Trudeau and the rest of the Canadian delegation flew to India on an ageing 35-year-old Airbus CC-150 Polaris – the Canadian military version of the Airbus A310 commercial jet, which hasn’t been in production since 1998.
The Royal Canadian Air Force still has five Polaris aircraft in its fleet, although the jets are due to be replaced by much more modern A330 aircraft in the coming months.
In fact, the Air Force took delivery of its first A330 in July – what will be known as CC-330 Husky in its military configuration. Unfortunately, the plane is still undergoing retrofit work before it is ready to be used for transporting government officials.
The plane previously flew for Kuwait Airways and is being retrofitted in Ottawa.
In the meantime, a second 35-year-old CC-150 aircraft was scrambled from Trenton Air Force Base on Sunday evening, perhaps on a rescue mission to pick up Treadeu. The aircraft is due to land in Rome on Monday morning, perhaps to refuel before continuing onto Delhi.
Last month, the German Air Force was forced to immediately retire two jets used for VIP government transport after one of the planes suffered multiple technical issues while flying Germany’s Foreign Minister on an official trip to the Pacific.
In the end, Annalena Baerboc was forced to cancel her trip after the plane was grounded in Abu Dhabi and couldn’t be fixed.
