Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has asked for long-term options "for proper travel" amid ongoing issues with the New Zealand Defence Force's Boeing 757s.
He says that could include leasing aircraft to ensure New Zealand's leaders can easily make their way around the world without having to deal with the risk of breakdowns.
Luxon is travelling to Australia on Wednesday for his first official international trip since taking on the top job in late November.
There were initially question marks over how exactly he would get there after mechanical problems with the 757s. However, on Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed the 757 was back in service.
But the Prime Minister has asked the Defence Force for "long-term options for proper travel". He didn't expect advice to be returned until the first quarter of next year.
"We want to be out and about in the world as we've talked about, and it's important that we can actually get around and actually do what we need to do," Luxon said on Tuesday.
He said one of those options could be to lease aircraft like other countries do.
The former Air New Zealand chief executive said that was a "very common way to do it in the aviation world".
"All we're saying is, 'Hey, listen, we have to call time on this. This is embarrassing. It's not right. It's great that we've got a great ability as New Zealanders to make things work for as long as we can. We've got great engineers, we've got fantastic mechanics and all that good stuff, but we do need a long-term solution'."
Back in June, Luxon said while the current planes are "unreliable", it would be "inappropriate" to commit to purchasing new planes during tough economic times. He instead suggested flying commercially or chartering planes.
Asked if he was now walking back his position, Luxon said buying a new plane wasn't necessarily going to be an option.
He hadn't asked Australian Anthony Albanese to send one of his planes to pick him up.
Labour's defence spokesperson Peeni Henare said the Government should put "its money where its mouth is".
"They have criticised us over the time that we used those planes. We were proud of the fact that we could use them and the Airforce provided a great service. We would like to see a continuation of the significant investments we made in our term of Government continue with this Government."
