This Is How the Unofficial ‘Papal Airline’ Flies the Pope

One of many world’s most influential individuals would not journey by non-public jet — he and his massive entourage want one thing a lot larger.

For his first journey overseas, Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV is chartering a full-size Airbus airliner — successfully a flying Vatican — to move his workers, clergy, safety personnel, and worldwide press as he travels to Turkey and Lebanon from November 27 to December 2.

The Vatican would not have its personal airline or airport, so the 180-seater A320neo narrowbody is operated by the Italian state-owned flag service, ITA Airways. This implies ITA gives the plane, the crew, and the entire flight-planning logistics.

ITA was based in 2021 because the successor to the bankrupt Alitalia. In 2025, it offered a 41% stake to the Lufthansa Group to remain afloat after struggling to develop.

As a part of that transition, ITA inherited Alitalia’s conventional function because the “papal airline.” ITA Airways CEO Jeorg Eberhart informed Enterprise Insider that the airline did not mechanically safe the contract however needed to negotiate one, and ITA should make sure the flights and routes are environment friendly.

The A320neo emits 20% much less CO2 per passenger than previous-generation plane. Eberhart mentioned the pope generally makes use of a next-generation Airbus A330neo widebody on longer-range missions or when there’s a bigger delegation.

Eberhart mentioned he and different ITA executives are required to be on the airport to satisfy Pope Leo — or any pope — earlier than their departure: “We’ve got to cancel all of our different appointments, specializing in the expectation that we’re there to shake fingers.”

These particular papal flights are generally dubbed “Shepherd One” — a time period much like “Air Power One” when referring to the plane carrying the US president.

Eberhart mentioned ITA coordinates the airports, and that the pope’s workers brings his dishes and coat of arms. He added that ITA attire the seats with Vatican colours. A gaggle of Italian and worldwide journalists accompanies the pope as properly.

These people sometimes sit in economic system class, whereas the Pope and his delegation sit in premium cabins up entrance, Eberhart mentioned.

On the A320neo, this implies a fundamental enterprise format that’s primarily economic system class with blocked center seats. On the 291-seater A330neo, it means extensive premium-economy recliners and business-class seats that convert into beds.

The pope usually flies residence on the flag airline of the nation he is visiting, although an ITA spokesperson confirmed to Enterprise Insider that Pope Leo will likely be flying residence with ITA for his upcoming journey.

Amongst his 47 journeys overseas, Pope Francis flew on carriers like American Airways, Etihad Airways, and LAM Mozambique Airways. Pope Benedict XVI additionally flew residence on a aircraft chartered from Qantas throughout his 2008 journey to Australia.

These journeys price hundreds of thousands of {dollars} — however the Vatican would not pay

For his first official journey, Pope Leo departed from Rome’s important worldwide airport — he would not use a personal terminal — and flew to Ankara, Turkey. He continued on to Istanbul and can fly to Beirut on Sunday. The plane will likely be staffed with three pilots and 7 flight attendants.

These journeys can price tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}, largely as a result of bills of chartering an plane, lodging, floor transportation, and safety.

It is unclear how a lot Pope Leo’s first journey will price, however the Vatican will seemingly cowl little or no of it.

The host nation foots the invoice as a result of a papal go to is handled like a state go to, because the pope is each a non secular chief and the top of the sovereign Vatican Metropolis State.

The Vatican’s obligations are restricted to offering journey preparations for some clergy, providing non secular texts and ceremonial gadgets, and organizing sure non secular occasions and conferences in the course of the go to.

The Canadian Press reported that Pope Francis’ journey to Canada in July 2022 price the Canadian authorities 55 million CAD ($39 million).

British authorities paperwork present a 2010 papal go to to London price roughly £17 million (about $22.3 million) and was break up between the nation, the UK Catholic Church, and native authorities.

A go to to Mexico in 2016 concerned the deployment of 10,000 law enforcement officials to guard the pope.

The US lowered its papal invoice for Pope John Paul II as a result of Trans World Airways, or TWA (now a part of American Airways), sponsored a number of of his flights to and from the US within the late 1900s.

Nonetheless, the hefty constitution will be offset by charging a premium fare to the journalists who wish to fly, The Factors Man reported.

Italian carriers have flown the pope for 60 years

The papal air journey custom dates again to 1964, when an Alitalia McDonnell Douglas DC-8 flew Pope Paul VI to Jordan — the first-ever time a sitting pope traveled by aircraft and the primary time one left Italy because the nineteenth century.

Alitalia, which carried each pope till it went bankrupt, assigned these flights the particular quantity AZ4000.

Pope John Paul II holds the report for essentially the most intensive travels of any pope. He visited 129 nations and flew three-quarters of 1,000,000 miles throughout his 27 years as head of the Catholic Church, whose international congregation is now estimated at 1.4 billion followers.

ITA operated its first papal mission in December 2021 when it flew Pope Francis to Cyprus. It additionally flew the pope to locations like Canada, Malta, and Indonesia earlier than his passing in April.

Eberhart mentioned Pope Francis was “very humble” throughout his travels, and that he would usually sit in any open house to work together along with his visitors: “He simply wished to be as regular as all people else,” he mentioned.