Air India replaces Queen with presidential 77W
Air India will introduce two Boeing 777-300ER into their presidential fleet, also known as the Air India One, this month
These two 77Ws will replace the over 25-year-old jumbo jets, B747-400s - which are currently used to ferry the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister.
A team of 4 pilots will fly taking delivery on the 24th and the new aircraft will arrive in India on the eve of the Republic Day. Depending on weather and government approval, it is highly possible that the planes will do low passes over the city as celebration.
The new aircraft, however, will be put to use only around July-August as the planes will immediately be sent back to the US for retrofit after the completion of registration formalities in India.
Retrofits include military communication equipment, in flight refuelling equipment and security kits for which certification would be needed from Boeing. The 6 min retrofit is estimated to cost over Rs1100 core. Heavy shielding on the 777 will be tough enough to protect the wiring and crucial electronics from the electromagnetic pulse associated with a nuclear blast. However due to the added weight, MTOW will decrease and range will also decrease.
One interesting to note is that at present, the Air Force 747s are deployed for commercial operations by AI when not in use for VVIP flights. This is because of the scare resources of the Indian government and thw national carrier cannot purchase seperate jets for presidential transportation. There are rumors that the Air Fiece originally requires every passenger on the 747s to wear colour-coded identity card. However due to strong opposition from AI the government abandoned the plan
However, with these 777s being specialised in governmental transportation only, we expect it to be painted in military colours.
The 777s will be maintained by the defence ministry with help from AI engineers, and pilots and cabin crew. Some Air India pilots may be forced to leave commercial aviation and to obey military rules in order to fly the presidential 777s.
Boeing has given options for 747-8, 777 and 787 initially, while Airbus offers A330 and A350 as governmental planes. As Air India already has both the long range (LR) and extended range (ER) versions of the Boeing 777, as well as the 787 Dreamliner, they have chosen Boeing as their presidential hey supplier. They finally chose the 77W as it requires high maintenance cost for the Boeing 747-8.
In addition to the 2 747s, the Indian Government fleet also includes a 14 seater Embraer 135, four 20 seater Embraer 145 and three customised 46 seater Boeing Business Jets (BBJ).
Each Embraer 135 is equipped with missile-deflecting systems, modern flight management system including global positioning system, as well as category II instrument landing system. Self-protection suites include radar warning receivers with missile-approach warning and counter-measure systems are also equipped. The aircraft have the capability to shoot chaff and flares to deviate radar-guided and heat-seeking missiles off their track along with other security tools.The other security instruments are undisclosed by the Indian Air Force.