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Second VVIP aircraft for President, PM arrives in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The second B-777 VVIP's aircraft, Air India One landed at the Delhi airport on Saturday.

Air India One aircraft is exclusively for the President, Vice President and Prime Minister.

The first of the two VVIP aircraft Air India One arrived in India earlier this month.



These two aircraft were part of Air India's commercial fleet for a few months in 2018 before they were sent back to Boeing for retrofitting them for VVIP travel.

Officials said the total cost of purchase and retrofitting the two planes has been estimated to be around Rs 8,400 crore.

The B777 planes will have state-of-the-art missile defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS).

In February, the US agreed to sell the two defence systems to India at a cost of $190 million.

During the travel of the VVIPs, the two B777 aircraft will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and not of Air India, an official said.

Currently, the president, vice president and prime minister, fly on Air India's B747 planes, which have the call sign Air India One.

Air India pilots fly these B747 aircraft for the dignitaries and the Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) maintains them.

When these B747 aircraft are not flying the dignitaries, they are used by the Indian national carrier for commercial operations.

The custom-made B777 planes will be used for travel of the dignitaries only.

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