Air Traffic Control call sign of the Aircraft carrying the Prime Minister or the President of India
Air India One
(also referred to as
AI1
[1]
AIC1
or
INDIA 1
) is the
air traffic control
call sign
of any Special Extra Section Flight (SESF) operated by the
Indian Air Force
(IAF) for the
President
,
Vice-President
or
Prime Minister of India
.
Ministry of Defence
and
AHQCS
, based at Palam Air Force Station, New Delhi are responsible for coordinating and carrying out the missions.
[2]
History
[
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]
Previously, Air India One was one of two dual-use civilian
Air India
Boeing 747-400s
.
In 2016, two
Boeing 777-300ERs
were selected as SESF (VVIP transport).
[3]
The new aircraft, with specially-designed liveries, entered service in October 2020, replacing the Boeing 747-400s operated for the missions by
Air India
. Unlike the 747s which were commercial aircraft, the newly inducted aircraft are military vessels formally owned and operated by the
Indian Air Force
. They bear no Air India markings and have no commercial dual-use. However, under a special contract, they will be maintained by Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), which has experience maintaining the Boeing 777 series aircraft for Air India's commercial fleet.
The aircraft are fitted with encrypted satellite communication facilities and advanced navigation aids, an advanced missile warning system, a missile deflecting shield and electronic countermeasures so as to provide protection from any ground-based or airborne threats and flares and glares for misleading the missile. They are capable of long-range travel removing the need for
air-to-air refuelling
(which is a feature on the
VC-25As
though they have not been used at all in their service) . The 777-300ERs’ onboard electronics include about 238 miles of wiring (twice the amount found in a normal 777). The heavy shielding is crucial to protect the wiring and crucial electronics from the
electromagnetic pulse
associated with a nuclear blast.
[4]
At a Boeing facility in
Fort Worth
, Texas, two ex- Air India aircraft (VT-ALV and VT-ALW, now registered as K7066 and K7067 respectively) were specially outfitted with missile defence and countermeasures dispensing systems, including large aircraft infrared countermeasures
(LAIRCM)
self-protection suites (SPS).
On Air India One flights, the President is designated as
VIP-1
, the Vice-President as
VIP-2
, and the Prime Minister as
VIP-3
. The BBJs have a four class configuration. For VIPs 1, 2 and 3, an executive enclosure in the aircraft includes an office and a bedroom. All other passengers aboard Air India One are required to wear colour-coded identity cards at all times. Members of the official delegation (at the rank of
Joint Secretary to the Government of India
and above) are tagged in purple and sit in first class. Personnel of the
Special Protection Group
are also tagged in purple to provide proximate security to the Prime Minister, and may carry close combat weapons for the duration of flights. Accompanying officials (passengers of rank below Joint Secretary) are tagged in pink, and sit in business class equivalent seats. Support staff, including cooks and butlers, and other security personnel (not including the
Special Protection Group
) are tagged in red, while journalists in the press pool are tagged in yellow. Both red and yellow-tagged passengers sit in economy class equivalent seats.
[5]
While
Ministers of the Union
and senior staff officers of the Indian Armed Forces may use smaller aircraft for official travel, the 777-300ERs are exclusively used by the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister.
[6]
[7]
Additional
Indian Air Force
VIP Aircraft such as the
B737 BBJ
and
ERJ-135
are also used by many government dignitaries (including the Prime Minister) for domestic and international medium-haul travel.
List of VIP aircraft
[
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]
Indian Air Force
has a fleet of six
Boeing 737s
(Business Boeing Jets (BBJ)). Three named and three unnamed for Domestic Travel of VIPs.
Namely-
- K5012 : 36106 :Rajdoot
- K5013 : 36107 : Rajhans
- K5014 : 36108 : Rajkamal
- K2412 : MSN 23036
- K2413 : MSN 23037
- K3187 : MSN 20483
Rajdoot is used by Prime Minister and the other two Rajkamal and Rajhans are used by President and Vice president respectively. They are luxurious but not as secure as the
Boeing 777-300ERs
(K7066 & K7067), but are still competent.
These airplane is also used for foreign visits to neighbour countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
For visiting military areas or places with no airplane landing facilities, IAF's
Mil Mi-17
is used.
Other than these VIP transport of IAF there are four
Embraer Legacy 600
that are used by Home, Finance, Defence and External affairs ministers respectively.
- Meghadoot (K601) - Home minister.
- Vayudoot (K602) - External affairs minister.
- Nabhdoot (K603) - Finance minister.
- Gagandoot (K604) - Defence minister.
The rest of cabinet ministers, House speakers, Deputy ministers
(Junior and Minister of states
) travel in Air India business class. It is same for high ranking bureaucrats and Supreme court judges.
See also
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References
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