Pope Francis flies to Marseille. Who's on board, who's paying: everything you need to know about papal flights
The first flying pope was Paul VI who, in 1964 reached Jordan aboard a Douglas Dc-8. The event [...]
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The first flying pope was Paul VI who, in 1964, reached Jordan aboard a Douglas Dc-8. The event was so exceptional that, welcoming him from the control tower of the Jordanian capital as the Alitalia quadrireactor was landing, was none other than King Hussein.
Almost sixty years later today 2:35 p.m. Pope Francis will embark at Fiumicino airport on an ITA Airways Airbus A320neo to fly to Marseille, on what will be his 43rd trip abroad.
Since Alitalia ceased to exist and its place was taken in October 2021 by ITA, the latter has 'inherited' the prestigious passenger. For the company, the one to the south of France will be the tenth papal flight, following those in Cyprus and Greece (December 2021), Malta (April 2022), Canada (July 2022), Kazakhstan (September 2022), Bahrain (November 2022), Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan (January-February 2023), Hungary (April 2023), Portugal (August 2023), and Mongolia (September 2023).
As announced by ITA itself, the flight to Marseille will depart from Rome Fiumicino's Terminal 5 (the one dedicated to flights requiring special security procedures, such as those to Israel). Greeting the pontiff under the A320neo will be ITA Airways President Antonino Turicchi, General Manager Andrea Benassi, and Chief Commercial Officer Emiliana Limosani.
Who flies aboard the plane with the Pope
The supervisor of shipboard activities will be Cmdr. Corrado Di Maria with 18,000 flight hours of experience and the crew will be 9 people, 3 pilots and 6 flight attendants. Because Pope Francis, of course, will not be flying alone.
source vatican news
There will be the so-called 'retinue,' a mix of lay people and prelates between 20 and 30 people in all, in addition to the accredited press. Normally, on long-haul trips such as the previous one to Mongolia, the Pope and his closest associates travel in business class, where seats that become beds allow for as much rest as possible, while journalists travel in Economy. In the case of the A320 neo, the seats are all in Economy, which is more than adequate for the hour and a half flight from Rome. The return flight is scheduled for tomorrow at 8:50 p.m., again on ITA's A320neo.
What companies does the pope fly with
When, on the other hand, the Pontiff travels long distances, the return flight is usually operated by the airline of the country of destination. So it was, for example, in the case of the last long-haul trip, the one from Mongolia.
Foreign airlines that have transported pontiffs over the years are many include Biman Bangladesh, Avianca, TAP Air Portugal, airBaltic, Aer Lingus, SriLankan, and American Airlines (before 2011, when it was acquired by AA itself, the star carrier for papal flights was TWA, which even had one of its Boeing 767s christened 'Shepherd One,' meaning Shepherd 1, in an obvious reference to presidential Air Force One).
Who pays for the Pope's flight
ITA, and before it Alitalia, still remains 'the' airline with which the Pope flies around the world from Rome (for travel in Italy he uses Air Force aircraft instead). How does it work, the 'system'? In fact, the Holy See leases the most suitable aircraft (an A320 or A321 for short- and medium-haul flights, an A330 or A350 for long-haul flights), as a private person might do.
The rental includes, of course, the crew (the formula is somewhat that of the so-called wet lease) and includes places for the papal retinue, while journalists (or, rather, the newspapers they work for) pay out of their own pockets for their seats in Economy at rates that are closer to those of a Business seat, however.
On board, Pope Francis, in keeping with the sobriety of his pontificate, has kept interior customization to a minimum, but the papal coat of arms on the side of the boarding door and the Vatican flags displayed from the cockpit windows remain a must. The flight number is always the same, whatever the destination: AZ4000.
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