King Harald, Queen Sonja | Ground crews in Malaysia: Preparing King Harald’s plane

LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA / OSLO (Nettavisen): Danial, Shamsul, Shuhairee and Ariff have had another day’s work at the local airport in Malaysia, after King Harald (87) was hospitalized in the area.

On Friday, the royal house announced that King Harald (87) is on the road to recovery, but will stay in the hospital in Malaysia for a couple more days, before returning home.

At 14:30 local time, 07:30 Norwegian time on Saturday morning, Nettavisen was informed that the Norwegian Medevac plane from SAS is to be prepared for the return journey.

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Will not confirm time

According to the ground crews Nettavisen has spoken to on Saturday, the plane will take off on Sunday afternoon local time. Nettavisen has tried to get the information confirmed by both the Palace and the Norwegian Armed Forces.

Communications manager at the Castle, Guri Varpe, tells Nettavisen that they will provide more information during the day.

The Norwegian Defense Forces refers to an earlier press release about the mission, but adds:

– The Norwegian Armed Forces do not share information about ongoing operational missions. This is for the safety of those involved, and because there may be changes. It is particularly important for us to maintain this practice, out of consideration for the safety and health of His Majesty the King, says Lieutenant Colonel and spokesperson Stine B. Gaasland in the Norwegian Armed Forces.

Also read: Medical evacuation plane has landed in Langkawi

Was removed from the airport

The armed forces are on the mission to bring the king home. At 10 o’clock on Saturday morning, activity was reported around the plane for the first time since it landed on Friday.

– We will soon start preparing the plane for the return journey, said one of the ground handling crew to Nettavisen.

The crew states that they will load some goods and medical equipment on board.

Shortly after the conversation with the ground crew, two cars arrived at the airport: A police car followed by a black SUV. At this time, the security guard at the top of the flight stairs had seen Nettavisen’s journalist, who was on the outside of the fence towards the airport area.

The police and the security guards on the ground were immediately called, and they quickly moved towards Nettavisen’s emissaries.

Admitted to hospital

King Harald has been hospitalized with an infection since Tuesday. He and Queen Sonja (86) have been in Malaysia on a private holiday trip on the occasion of the king’s recent birthday.

The online newspaper has been confirmed by a source inside the hotel The Datai in Langkawi, that the king and queen stayed at the luxurious hotel. The hotel is about 40 minutes’ drive north-west of the airport.

On the night of Friday Norwegian time, what is apparently the plane that will carry the monarch home landed at the airport on the holiday island. The aircraft is a converted Boeing 737–700, which is used for medical evacuation and has several hospital beds on board.

It is the Norwegian Armed Forces who have been tasked with bringing the king home to Norway.