The government has explained the stopover of its new VIP jet in Almaty, Kazakhstan where Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had just hosted a wedding reception for his daughter last month, to bad weather and refuelling.

The Prime Minister’s Department (PMD) said the jet from Malta stopped in Germany and Kazakhstan while en-route to Malaysia due to "prevailing weather conditions", Bernama reported today.

 

“The flight also used the Chinese airspace based on wind conditions and cloud height, compared to the Afghan airspace,” Bernama quoted PMD saying.

 

It added that the stop in Almaty was for refuelling and lasted for an hour.

 

On May 1 the jet flew from Malta to Hamburg and then made its Hamburg-Almaty-Subang journey on May 6, according to the flight tracking website FlightRadar24 .

 

Its stops in Hamburg and Almaty had raised questions on the social media, and screenshots of the aircraft being tracked on FlightRadar24’s website had been circulated.

Coincidentally Najib, his wife Rosmah Mansor and their entourage of hundreds were in Almaty from April 17 to 19 for the Kazakh leg of the wedding reception of his daughter to Kazakh national Daniyar Kessikbayev.

The extravagance of the wedding receptions in both countries had drawn criticism, notably from Najib's predecessor and loudest critic former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Agong gets first official ride

The Airbus ACJ320 aircraft bearing the registration number 9M-NAB was previously registered as 9H-AWK and was kept in Malta since March.

Bernama reported there were nine crew members on board at the time, as well as two PMD officials tasked to ensure that the aircraft was received in good condition and met specifications.

It also quoted the PMD saying that the new aircraft has made its first “official flight” this morning, ferrying the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong ( photo ) at 10am from Alor Setar to Langkawi.

 

“The acquisition of the ACJ 320 aircraft is to replace the 16-year-old Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) which is in the process of being disposed.

 

“The decision to replace the BBJ was made in 2013 because of rising maintenance costs due to age and security risk factors," it added.

 

According to FlgihtRadar24, the flight was made under the flight number DIRAJA1.

 

However, the aircraft has already made another flight yesterday according to data from the same website.

 

It was spotted making its first flight since arriving in Malaysia from Subang to Kuala Terengganu and back under the flight number NR1, although the purpose of the trip or its passengers are unknown.

 

It then made another trip to Alor Setar this morning to receive its royal passenger.

 

The hire-purchase of the aircraft from Comlux Aviation through another company Jet Premier One Sdn Bhd has previously caused controversy due to its high cost.

 

Meanwhile, the PMD reiterated that the government’s fleet of VIP jets are for the use of the Agong, the prime minister, and the deputy prime minister.

 

However, the aircraft can also be used by sultans, governors, ministers, deputy ministers, foreign guests of the federal government, senior civil servants, and VIPs, subject to conditions and approval by the government.

 

Apart from the aforementioned ACJ 320 and BBJ aircrafts, the other VIP jets in the government’s fleet are; an Airbus ACJ 319 acquired in 2007, and the smaller Dassault Falcon 900 acquired in 1989 and Bombardier Global Express acquired in 2001.