Plane troubles delay India visit

The prime minister has defended his broken-down airforce plane and says plans to replace the fleet won’t be sped up because of the disruptions to his India trip.

A replacement plane is on its way to Australia from Auckland to meet John Key and his 35-member delegation and will head on to India this morning.

Key’s plane was grounded at Townsville airbase in Queensland after a series of technical faults and delays.

The Mumbai leg of the trip has now been cancelled - the business delegation travelling with Key were meant to be taking part in an innovation showcase while there.

Key would also miss a visit to Shree Siddhivinayak Marble Temple, speaking at the Bombay Stock Exchange, meeting the chief minister of Maharashtra and signing an education agreement.

He said it was disappointing, ‘‘particularly for the business delegation’’, but the main purpose of the trip, a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would still go ahead.

Key is trying to get a free trade agreement with India across the line after about 10 attempts since 2010.

‘‘At some point [the planes] will be replaced but in the natural course of things, I’m sure the airforce will go away and look at the issue,’’ Key said.

‘‘It’s a little bit sub-optimal but we’re in Townsville and the options aren’t great from this perspective - there’s no international options we can take, not easily anyway, so you just have to roll with the punches.’’

The delegation, which includes former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum, was originally delayed for three hours after a technical issue kept their plane grounded and an attempt to take off was aborted.

They were then told they would be boarding the Royal New Zealand Airforce’s Boeing 757 shortly, only to hit a technical snag once again after a second take-off failed.

‘‘Over the course of the last eight years as prime minister on my overseas travel I’ve very sensibly used the Airforce 757 and historically they’ve been very reliable,’’ Key said.

‘‘As much as it’s frustrating, it’s one of those things you have to accept with aircraft that they occasionally run into problems.’’

Also on board was the New Zealand Defence Force cricket team, who will miss their first game against their Indian counterparts.

The last time the RNZAF plane was used by Key was last month when it was delayed leaving Laos after a technical issue. Key was heading to the Pacific Islands Forum in the Federated States of Micronesia.

"It's a little bit suboptimal but we're in Townsville and the options aren't great from this perspective." Prime Minister John Key