The British Royal Navy's F-35B fighter jet that had been grounded at Kerela airport for more than five weeks has finally taken off and is now heading to Darwin, Australia.

The F-35B, known for its stealth and vertical landing features, was moved out of the hangar on Monday after being cleared to fly, an airport official told the BBC.

The jet is part of the UK Royal Navy's fleet aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. While officials haven’t shared the exact reason for its journey to Darwin, the carrier is currently in the region for joint military exercises, according to updates posted on X (formerly Twitter).

For several days, the ship has been sharing photos and information about its activities near the Australian coast.

After the aircraft failed to fly back, engineers from HMS Prince of Wales were sent to Kerala to try and fix the issue. But when their efforts didn’t work, the UK Ministry of Defence dispatched a special team of 14 engineers to Thiruvananthapuram airport to assess and repair the aircraft.

There had been reports that if the repair team couldn’t fix the plane, it might need to be taken apart and flown back in a large cargo aircraft like the C-17 Globemaster. However, the latest update confirms the F-35B is now fully operational and flying on its own.

For the past two weeks, including on Monday, both the UK High Commission in India and defence officials responded to the BBC, saying they wouldn’t comment on the repair work or share further details.

The stranded jet, worth around $110 million, had been sitting on the airport tarmac under heavy Kerala monsoon rains. Photos of the jet quickly caught the public's eye and sparked a wave of memes and jokes online.

Social media users joked that the jet didn’t want to leave Kerala, often referred to as "God's Own Country" in tourism campaigns, because of its scenic beauty.

The situation of the modern fighter jet being stuck for so long in a foreign country caught the attention of not just the public, but lawmakers as well. The issue was even mentioned in the UK House of Commons, pointing out the level of interest it generated.

You might also be interested in -British F-35B grounded in Kerala for 19 days, C-17 Globemaster likely to extract jet