Aircraft problems leave Germany's justice minister stuck in Venice

Germany's justice minister will be stuck in Italy for several hours longer than planned after technical issues with the German government aircraft meant to ferry him home.

Marco Buschmann and his entourage had planned on leaving Venice around midday on Friday. He was in the Italian city for a meeting of justice ministers from the G7 group of wealthy democratic countries.

The aircraft, a Bombardier Global 5000 jet, had to return to its parking position shortly before the planned take-off.

The return journey to Germany is now expected to take place in the early evening on a replacement aircraft which is being sent from Cologne.

Germany's fleet of government aircraft have become something of a punchline after encountering numerous technical issues in recent years. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was left stranded in Abu Dhabi last August and had to cancel a trip to Australia and New Zealand when problems occurred on her government plane. She had to return to Germany on a commercial flight.

The government is seeking to replace breakdown prone older aircraft with more reliable newer models.