Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his delegation, who were to leave Delhi after the G20 summit on Sunday, were stranded here due to technical issues with their aircraft.
While the nature of the technical snag remains unknown, the 34-year-old aircraft, ironically nicknamed the ‘Flying Taj Mahal’, has suffered mechanical defects in its recent history, during the prime ministership of Trudeau.
Before being commissioned as the official aircraft for the PM, the CC 150 Polaris was part of a batch of five aircraft, part of a commercial fleet for an airline company in 1987-88.
Trudeau’s official visit to India in 2018 also saw the aircraft develop a snag in Rome during a refuelling stop. The issue emerged due to a damaged sensor, stretching the fuel stop from the usual 1.5 hours to about three hours.
The Canadian government acquired two Airbus A-330 aircraft, manufactured in 2015, but they have not been readied for VIP use.
According to Canadian media reports, that may take up to two years to happen.
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