The German Air Force has decided to immediately retire its two Airbus A340 VIP transport aircraft, which are used to fly the German chancellor and other leading officials on long-haul trips around the world.

The snap decision comes in the aftermath of an embarrassing episode in which two technical problems suffered by one of the ‘Air Force One’ jets forced German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to cancel her trip to the Asia Pacific region.

Yesterday, in a tweet that began with the words “safety first!” the air force reported that the four-engine A340 had to return to Abu Dhabi after taking off from there. “Due to a technical fault, the wing flaps could not be retracted correctly. We are working at full speed to enable our guests to continue their journey and will inform you when it resumes,” the Luftwaffe stated, adding that the A350s were not available for this mission, due to undisclosed other commitments.

The fault reportedly appeared after refueling in Abu Dhabi, leaving the minister “stranded for hours while the technical crew battled to fix a problem with the wing flaps,” according to the AFP news agency.

“There were no problems,” the Air Force said. “We are therefore planning to continue our journey to Sydney later this evening.”

Later that day, the next update brought more bad news:

“A340 — Mission aborted!” the Luftwaffe tweeted. “The problem occurred again with the now fully refueled machine. We are now landing back in Abu Dhabi.”

The next tweet on the Luftwaffe’s official account confirmed the decision to retire both the A340s early.

As for Baerbock, she had been planning to visit Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, before the trip was canceled. Taking to Twitter, her frustration at the situation was palpable:

“We have tried everything: Unfortunately, it is logistically impossible to continue my Indo-Pacific journey without the broken plane. This is more than annoying.