NEW DELHI: Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau and his delegation have finally departed from Delhi after a technical issue with their aircraft was resolved on Tuesday. The 36-year-old Airbus A310 had developed a snag just before departure on Sunday, causing delays in the PM's return to Canada. The Canadian government is in the process of replacing its ageing VVIP aircraft.
“The technical issue with the plane has been resolved. The plane has been cleared to fly. The Canadian delegation is expected to depart this (Tuesday) afternoon,” Canadian PMO told TOI earlier this morning.
This incident follows the recent cancellation of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's trip due to a snag on her 23-year-old Airbus A340. India, on the other hand, has recently acquired two state-of-the-art Boeing 777s for its dignitaries.
Till yesterday Canada had described the situation of the PM’s return as “fluid” as it has an ageing VVIP fleet that has been known to develop snags in the past too.
The over 30-year-old aircraft supposed to fly Justin Trudeau and his delegation back home on Sunday night had developed a snag just before departure.
The wide body Airbus A310 had flown Trudeau to Delhi from Singapore on September 8 and was to leave for Ottawa via Rome on Sunday when a glitch as detected. Incidentally in the summer of 2018, the aircraft had developed a snag when Trudeau was to leave for Delhi. The flight was delayed that time too. There have been other instances too of this ageing aircraft suffering issues. The Canadian government is in the process of replacing the old VVIP aircraft.
This is not the only case of a VVIP flight getting delayed in recent times due to snags on old planes. Last month, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had to cancel her trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji after her 23-year-old Airbus A340 yet again suffered a snag during refuelling in Abu Dhabi. Germany is also retiring its old VVIP fleet.
Indian dignitaries recently got two state-of-the-art Boeing 777s that replaced the over three-decade old jumbo jets of Air India which use to fly the president, PM and VPs for long haul international journeys.