BERLIN, Aug. 17 -- Malte Kaufmann was on holiday on Mahe, the main island of the Seychelles, when he saw a German air force jet parked on the apron and drew the conclusion most people would draw. The Alternative for Germany member of the Bundestag photographed it and posted the picture on X, wondering aloud whether a chancellor or a minister was taking an unannounced tropical trip at public expense.

He was wrong about that, and the correction is more interesting than the accusation. The aircraft is a Bombardier Global 5000 belonging to the Flugbereitschaft, the Luftwaffe wing that flies the German government, registration 14+03. It had been sitting at Mahe International Airport since August 11, five days before he found it, after making ...