Merkel’s spokeswoman defends separate German ministerial flights to US

The German government is defending a decision to have Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer fly to the US almost simultaneously on separate government planes.

The development came two days after Merkel’s coalition presented a policy package aiming to combat climate change.

German media on Monday mocked the back-to-back departures on Sunday of Merkel to New York for a UN climate summit and Kramp-Karrenbauer to Washington for meetings with US officials. Kramp-Karrenbauer was originally supposed to fly out in Merkel’s Airbus A340 and take a commercial flight home.

The separate flights were down to “purely organizational” factors, Merkel spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said, adding that the chancellor and the minister were heading to separate destinations with different delegations.