After two weeks, the government VIP jet bearing the registration number 9M-NAA has made a trip around the world and landed in Bangkok this afternoon amid posers on the whereabouts of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's wife, Rosmah Mansor.
Since Najib is already back in Malaysia to deal with the recent floods, it is unclear who is using the aircraft or for what purpose.
According to the flight tracking website Flightradar24, the Airbus 319 jet left its base in Subang on Dec 20 and flew to Honolulu, Hawaii after a brief stop in Osaka, Japan.
There, Najib had played golf with US President Barack Obama, but had to cut his holiday short amid criticism for his absence as the flood situation worsened.
He later revealed to the media that while his family was sad to see him leave, he had told them that the suffering of flood victims was greater.
Najib had reached Kota Bharu on the afternoon of Dec 27 using a different aircraft.
He was likely to be picked up by another government jet in Hong Kong, while it was not clear how he got there from Honolulu.
At that time, the original government jet was already in Indianapolis, US, having arrived there after a stop at Los Angeles.
It remained in Indianapolis for six days until Dec 31, where it took off for Los Angeles, then New York, London, Dubai and finally Bangkok - all with brief stops at each airport for up to several hours until it reached Bangkok.
It touched-down at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport at 2.11pm today after a journey of some 41,900 kilometres, and is still there as of the time of writing.
Malaysiakini has contacted the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) about the aircraft earlier today, but has yet to receive a response.
The aircraft is among a few VIP jets operated by the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
In a statement last year, the PMO had said that there are four VIP jets: A Boeing Business Jet, a Global Express, a Falcon 900, and the Airbus, which is the latest addition to the fleet.
It added that the aircraft were not exclusively for Najib’s use, but are also for the Agong, sultans, yang di-pertuas negeri, ministers, deputy ministers, foreign guests to the federal government, senior government officials and VIPs.
It said this helps these individuals move about safely and aides their busy schedule. - M'kini
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