Prime Minister Narendra Modi upon his arrival in Sydney, Australia on Monday. (Press Trust of India)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Air India One plane was made to wait at the Nay Pyi Taw Airport in Myanmar last week for 92 minutes due to delay in refuelling it before it flew to Brisbane.
The flight, scheduled to depart at 2130 hours on Thursday, left only at 2302 hours after the delay due to "non-cooperation" of the airport staff, government sources said.
"The delay was mainly due to the ground handler delaying fuel and low bar facilities to our flight as a result of which it got delayed by 92 minutes. The matter has been reported to Embassy and the SPG (Special Protection Group)," an Air India official told PTI in New Delhi.
The sources said refuelling was not carried out to full capacity but done in phases stretching over nearly five-and-a-half hours and there was only one bowser at the airport for the job.
They said the Air India officials, who were asking the Myanmarese airport officials to expedite refuelling, were told that the VVIP aircraft would be fuelled only before departure on Thursday night and not before.
The Boeing 747 was filled up to capacity only after the Indian Embassy and the SPG, which handles Prime Minister's security, stepped-in, following requests from the airline, the sources said.