The cost of fuel for the official government jet’s trip around the world will cost taxpayers nearly RM500,000. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, January 5, 2015.PKR today calculated that the government jet had used 64,232.36 gallons of fuel on its return leg through several cities around the world, setting back taxpayers nearly half a million ringgit.
The party's Youth wing information chief Lee Chean Chung said that the Airbus plane with the tail number 9M-NAA had flown from Honolulu to Kuala Lumpur, going through the cities of Los Angeles, Indianapolis, back to Los Angeles, New York, Dubai and Bangkok.
"With the price of global jet fuel pegged at RM7.68 per gallon, the mystery passenger of 9M-NAA has racked up fuel usage totalling RM494,404.
"This cost excludes the salaries of pilots, landing fees, aircraft parking fees, hangar fees, ramp services, maintenance services and other costs," he said in a statement today.
The Semambu assemblyman said that amount could have been used to buy 247 tonnes of rice, currently priced at a wholesale price of RM2 per kilo, to be distributed to those affected by the massive floods that inundated numerous states.
The amount could also buy 197,761 sardine cans, priced at RM2.50 each, to be given to the flood victims.
Questions have arisen over the government aircraft which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had used to travel to Hawaii on December 24, but was subsequently left behind when he returned to Malaysia.
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said that the jet landed in Indianapolis from Los Angeles at 6.52pm Malaysian time on December 26.
The plane landed at the Los Angeles Airport at 1.40pm Malaysian time from Honolulu, Hawaii, where Najib was on holiday.
Najib was to use the government airplane, an Airbus A319, to return to Malaysia two weeks ago, but instead flew from Hawaii to Hong Kong on a commercial flight before returning to Malaysia on a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Boeing 737 passenger aircraft.
He cut short his holiday following criticism over his absence when massive floods hit the northeastern states of Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang.
Many Malaysians had criticised Najib after photographs of him playing golf with US President Barack Obama in Hawaii went viral.
However, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was not with him upon his return to Malaysia, prompting Malaysians to speculate about her whereabouts and that of the plane's.
The aircraft had arrived in Dubai from London at 12.16am on Saturday before departing again at 1.53am, according to Flightradar24.com. It then landed in Bangkok, Thailand.
Bernama reported on Saturday that Najib met Thailand’s General Prayuth Chan-O-cha in Bangkok to thank the Thai prime minister for the country’s contribution during the recent floods.
Today, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the plane had not been used for personal purposes.
In a statement to veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin, the PMO said Najib had not been able to use the official jet to return to Malaysia on December 27 as it had "technical issues".
"The prime minister came back on a commercial flight via Hong Kong where he was picked up (by) the Royal Malaysian Air Force and headed straight to Kota Baru," the PMO told Kadir, who published the statement on the comment section of his blog today.
"This arrangement came about as the aircraft which the PM and his family (had) used to travel to Hawaii, had to stay behind in the United States to sort out some technical issues.
"The aircraft had not stayed behind for use (sic) by the PM's family members. Also, they are not in Indianapolis."
- TMI
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