- B777 Air India One Year
- Air India One B777 Interior
- B777 Air India One Time
- Boeing 777 Air India
- Air India 777 300
Air India One (also referred to as AI-1[1] or AIC001) is the call sign of the aircraft with the President, Vice President or Prime Minister of India on board. Air India is the national airline of India.[2] The aircraft is operated as VVIP flight by the Indian Air Force (IAF).[3] The IAF's Air Headquarters Communication Squadron, based at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, is in charge of operating these aircraft. The new Boeing 777-300ER planes have arrived in India.[4]
President Ram Nath Kovind boards Air India One-B777 aircraft for its inaugural flight to Chennai 'This is the first flight of the Air India One-B777 aircraft with the head of State on board. Air India, the National Carrier of India, offers connections to over 70 international and 100 domestic destinations for your travel plan. Book now and avail extra baggage allowance, business class upgrades and flexible change and rebooking options.
Current fleet[edit]
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind boarded the Air India One – B777 aircraft for the inaugural flight to Chennai today (November 24, 2020). He is visiting Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh to offer prayers at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple. This is the first flight of the Air India One – B777 aircraft with the Head of State on board. New Delhi, October 15: Air India One, the first of the custom-made Boeing B777 aircraft will be used to fly the President of India, Vice President and the Prime Minister on international state. PM’s new special aircraft Boeing 777 ‘Air India One’, equipped with missile defence systems, reaches Delhi. The new Boeing 777 aircraft for VVIPs guest is equipped with advanced defence.
Apart from the Boeing 747-400s owned by Air India and used on international state visits, the IAF currently owns four 14 seater Embraer 135, four 20 seater Embraer 145 and three customised 46 seater Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) that have a VIP cabin and are used for VIP movement. Of these the Boeing 747s are used by either the Prime Minister, President or Vice President when on official overseas visits.[5][6]
Each Embraer 135 is equipped with missile-deflecting systems, modern flight management system including global positioning system, as well as category II instrument landing system. These aircraft cost the IAF ₹1.4 billion (US$20 million) each.[6] The Three BBJs, named Rajdoot, Rajhans and Rajkamal cost the IAF ₹9.34 billion (US$130 million) each (₹7.34 billion (US$100 million) for the actual aircraft plus an additional ₹2 billion (US$28 million) for Self Protection Suites).[3][5] Self-protection suites include radar warning receivers, it also has highly trained commandos to protect the president/vice/prime minister, missile-approach warning and counter-measure systems. The aircraft has the capability to shoot chaff and flares to deviate radar-guided and heat-seeking missiles off their track along with other security tools. The other security instruments are undisclosed by the Indian Air Force.
The onboard electronics include about 238 miles of wiring (twice the amount found in a normal 747). Heavy shielding is tough enough to protect the wiring and crucial electronics from the electromagnetic pulse associated with a nuclear blast.[7]
The President is designated VIP 1, The Vice-President, VIP 2, and The Prime Minister, VIP 3. The BBJs have a four class configuration. For the President/Prime Minister, there is a separate enclosure in the aircraft which includes an office and a bedroom. Everyone aboard Air India One is required to wear a colour-coded identity card. Members of the official delegation (Joint Secretary level and above) are tagged in purple and sit in First Class while accompanying the VIPs. The accompanying officials (junior bureaucrats and support staff) are tagged in pink. The support staff, president's cooks and butlers join the security team from the Delhi police (not SPG) are tagged in red, while Journalists, sport a prominent Yellow tag.[8]
As they have become less cost-effective to operate, the Indian Air Force have replaced the present Boeing 747-400 with the Boeing 777-300ER. The planes in question have arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in New Delhi.[4]
| Aircraft | Number |
|---|---|
| Boeing 747-400 | 2 |
| Boeing 777-300ER | 2 |
| Total Fleet | 4 |
Replacements[edit]
Two custom-made Boeing 777 planes, which will be used to fly the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister from July 2021, will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force and not of Air India. However, the new wide-body planes will be maintained by Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), which is a subsidiary of the Indian national carrier, Air India[9]
The planes in question have landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in New Delhi as of 1 October 2020.[4]
Security Upgrade[edit]
B777 Air India One Year
The government of India has requested to buy two SPS consisting of LAIRCM Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite, Counter-Measures Dispensing System (CMDS) to protect two Boeing-777-300ER (white colour livery)
Head-of-State aircraft. This potential sale would include: twelve guardian laser transmitter assemblies… missile warning sensors.. counter-measures dispensing system..,' the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), that comes under the US department of defence, said in a statement, adding, 'Also included in this sale are Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suites…'
Indian Air Force One (if AI is privatised) aircraft will be equipped with 'large aircraft infrared countermeasures (LAIRCM) self-protection suites (SPS) for an estimated cost of $190 million”. The US State Department has approved the 'foreign military sale' of two B777 LAIRCM SPS.[10]
Boeing had delivered the two B777 300 extended range (ER) to Air India in January 2018. The airline sent these two to Fort Worth in Dallas last summer for being retrofitted with the latest security and communication systems so that they can replace the over 26-year-old jumbo jets used by the president, VP and PM for long international flights. The two are with Boeing Defence for retrofitting with the latest security and communication systems. The two planes were expected to be in India by July 2020. Due to technological issues, the delivery date was deferred by more than a month.[11] First of these aircraft arrived in New Delhi on 1 October 2020, [12] while the second one arrived on 25 October.[13]
See also[edit]
- Air Force One - Official aircraft of the President of the United States of America
- Japanese Air Force One - Official presidential aircraft (currently two Boeing 777-300ER) of Japan
References[edit]
Air India One B777 Interior
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air India One. |
- ^'Air India One, Seat No 59G'. 26 September 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
- ^'Manmohan Singh to travel in Air India One Agra'. Topnews.in. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
- ^ ab'April 1 date for President with business jets'. Zee News. 16 March 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
- ^ abcANI (1 October 2020). 'First VVIP aircraft 'Air India One' for President, PM to arrive today | India News - Times of India'. The Times of India. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ ab'India's own Air Force One takes to the skies'. The Hindu. 1 April 2009. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
- ^ ab'VVIPs get their special jets'. 21 September 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
- ^'Know about Air India One! (Air India 1 – AI 1)'. Aviation Thrust. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^Nayyar, Dhiraj (26 September 2010). 'Air India One, Seat No 59G - Indian Express'. Indian Express. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^'IAF pilots to fly Modi on new 'Air India One' from next July'. The Week. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^'Upcoming Air India One to get massive security overhaul - Flying fortress'. The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^'Air India One from US deferred due to technical reasons'. Big News Network.com. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^'PM's new special aircraft, equipped with missile defence systems, lands in Delhi'. Hindustan Times. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^'Air India One: Second VVIP aircraft in Prime Minister and President's fleet arrives in Delhi'. Hindustan Times. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
B777 Air India One Time
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made 95 trips to 58 countries, including five visits to the United States, since he won the Lok Sabha elections in May 2014. A whopping Rs. 518 crore spent on PM Modi’s foreign travel between 2014 and 2019 has not only made him a most enviable globetrotter, but raised curiosity about his Air Force One aircraft worldwide.
Adding to the curiosity about Air India One deployed for foreign travels of India’s VVIPs is the delivery of the two new Boeing 777-300ER equipped with the most advanced missile defence mechanism and mid-air communication systems. Today, the Boeing jet for the Indian VVIPs landed in New Delhi after a 15-hour flight from the US. A special team of Air India and Indian Air Force officials escorted the new Air India One plane from Dallas, Texas to India. Another custom-made Air India One B777 plane will be delivered later this year.
Air India One is the call sign of official VVIP flights that the Indian Air Force operates for Prime Minister or President’s foreign trips. The Air Headquarters Communication Squadron at New Delhi IGI Airport helms the deployment of Air India One aircraft, the flying fortress, for the top three VVIPs’ international state visits. (The President is VIP 1, the Vice President is VIP 2, and the Prime Minister is VIP 3)
Boeing 777 Air India
Air India’s Boeing 747-400 has been used with the call sign, Air India One, for the top three VVIPs’ foreign travel till date. The aircraft, when not in use for VVIP flights, is deployed for operating civil flights. However, the 26-year-old Boeing 747-400s will soon be replaced by two new Boeing 777-300ERs which will permanently feature the call sign, Air India One, and the Ashoka emblem.
The new Boeing 777-300ER took its maiden flight from Seattle to New Delhi for a display at the Republic Day celebrations in 2018. Both of the two new aircraft purchased for Air India One flights flew back to the USA and have been retrofitted with the world-class security upgrades there.
The new Air India One aircraft for the top three VVIPs of India have got the most advanced security makeover on the lines of US President’s Air Force One and at a whopping cost of $190 million. The two B777 planes cost Indian government Rs 1084 crore. Rs 8400 crore is the total cost of purchase and configuration of the new Air India One B777 planes.
The $190-million security upgrade to Boeing 777-300ER for Air India One is an outcome of the US-India strategic relationship in defence. The Boeing 777s have been retrofitted with two systems – Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Advance Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suites – upon US President Trump’s approval of the same. These two defence systems will make Air India One as strong a citadel as Air Force One. Notably, the US is the second largest source of arms for India.
Besides radar warning sensors, missile warning receivers, anti-missile flares, intruder detection systems and a countermeasure dispensing system, Air India One has been fitted out with the most advanced communication technology, using which the top three VVIPs will be able to stay connected, both online and offline, all times. Furthermore, each of the new Air India One aircraft is fortified with 238-mile-long wiring to protect crucial electronics on board from electromagnetic pulses of a nuclear explosion. The Indian Air Force has not disclosed other security mechanisms.
There are a well-equipped conference room, an operation theater, a spacious bedroom and a special lounge inside the Boeing 777s for the Indian VVIPs’ long-haul international flights. Each Boeing 777 can store food for nearly 2000 people. The engineering team of Air India will be maintaining the new B777 jets.
Air India 777 300
Usually, an Air India One flight has four pilots and a dedicated team of doctors and trained medical staff on board for unforeseen contingencies. A squad of specially trained officers is also deployed on all flights for the top three VVIPs.
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