NEW DELHI: Air India One, the second Boeing-777 VVIP’s aircraft exclusively for the President, Vice President and Prime Minister, has now landed at the Delhi airport on Saturday.
Earlier this month, the first of the two VVIP aircraft Air India One got here in India.
In 2018, these two aircraft were sent back to Boeing for retrofitting them for VVIP travel which were the part of Air India’s commercial fleet for a few months.
Officials said the purchase and retrofitting the two planes cost around Rs.8,400 crore.
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Self-Protection Suites (SPS) and Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) are the state-of-the-art missile defence systems, the B777 planes will possess.
In February, India decided to purchase the two defence systems worth$190 million from US.
According to the official, instead of the Air India’s pilots the two B777 aircraft will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) during the travel of the VVIPs.
Air India’s Boeing B-747 jumbo aircraft is operated by Air India pilots, currently in which the President, Vice President and Prime Minister fly on is now replaced by the VVIP aircraft B-777.
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The Indian national carrier uses for commercial operations when these B747 aircraft are not flying the dignitaries.
The colour of Air India Boeing 777 had been totally changed including changes to the design of the aircraft as per the recommendations and further approval by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The custom-made B777 planes will be used for travel of the dignitaries only.
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