New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins took two air force jets with him on a trip to China in case the one he was traveling in broke down.
According to the Bloomberg report, Hipkins flew to Beijing on Sunday in a Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing 757, leading a delegation of company executives in the hope of expanding trade with his nation's biggest export market.
“A second 757 accompanied the first as far as Manila in the Philippines, acting as a backup in case of any mechanical problems,” the report said.
It added: “Given the importance of the trip and the long distance involved, it was considered that a backup aircraft was justified to ensure the success of the mission to our largest trade partner," the report said.
It said: "The 757s are around 30 years old, are nearing the end of their economic lives, and are due for replacement between 2028 and 2030."
Opposition parties said the need to take a second aircraft was an environmental embarrassment to the country and illustrated the poor state of its defense force, it said.
"If we've got a climate emergency it doesn't make a lot of sense to have a second 30-year-old 757 trailing the other one," the report quoted Christopher Luxon, leader of the main opposition National Party as having said.
David Seymour, leader of the libertarian ACT Party, claimed the amount of CO2 emitted by the extra plane "would be the equivalent of someone driving a Ford Ranger 606 times the length of New Zealand”, it mentioned.
"Some people might bring a spare phone charger with them while traveling overseas in case they lose one or it breaks. Chris Hipkins needs to bring a spare Boeing aircraft with him," said Seymour, the report mentioned.
He as per the report, also said, "New Zealand's out-of-date air fleet is becoming a source of national embarrassment."
