After much await, one of the two Air India One-B777 planes took its inaugural flight to Chennai with President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife, Savita Kovind. In Air India One-B777 aircraft’s maiden voyage, the President was visiting Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh to offer prayers at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple on Tuesday.
According to a Rashtrapathi Bhavan statement, “This is the first flight of Air India One-B777 aircraft with the head of State on board. The aircraft is fuel-efficient and has a longer range than the B747-400 that is deployed for similar VVIP operations.” The aircraft has state-of-the-art interiors with reduced noise levels.
From July 2021, the two custom-made Boeing-777 planes will be used by the President, Vice President and Prime Minister to fly. The two VVIP aircraft Air India One will be operated by the Indian Air Force pilots and not of Air India. It will be maintained by Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL).
The Indian government has requested two SPS consisting of LAIRCM Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite, Counter-Measures Dispensing System to protect the two Boeing-777-300 ER planes.
In January 2018, Boeing had delivered two B-777 300 extended-range (ER) to Air India. The two Boeing flights are equipped with the latest security and communication systems.
The two Boeing planes were expected to be delivered by July 2020. However, due to some technical troubles, the delivery dates were deferred. On October 1, the first of these aircraft arrived in New Delhi, while the second one reached on October 25.
