Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two brand-new special aircraft that will reach India next year may be placed under the Indian Air Force rather than Air India. The two long-haul Boeing 777-300ER aircraft are being customised at Boeing’s Dallas facility and are expected to arrive in New Delhi in June 2020, complete with missile defence systems that will make the aircraft as secure as the Boeing 747-200B used by US President Donald Trump. It will be India’s first dedicated aircraft for the three dignitaries – the President, Vice President and Prime Minister – who usually travel abroad on an aircraft chartered from the state-run airline, Air India. For shorter trips, they use planes from Indian Air Force’s Communications Squadron’s VVIP fleet.
PM’s special aircraft may be called Air Force One
