Summary
- Pope Francis shall be flown back to the Vatican by TAP Air Portugal after his visit to Portugal for World Youth Day in August, marking the second time he has chosen the airline for his return flight.
- TAP will operate a non-stop flight from Lisbon to Rome, with a travel time of two hours and 50 minutes, using an Airbus A321neo.
- TAP Air Portugal has a history of flying Popes, having transported three previous Popes, including Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI.
TAP Air Portugal is about to fly Pope Francis back to the Vatican for the second time. His Holiness will visit Portugal in August for World Youth Day next month. Pope Francis is the fourth Pope to have ever traveled onboard Portugal’s flag carrier.
Second flight with TAP
TAP Air Portugal will fly Pope Francis to the Vatican on August 6, following a visit to the European country that may happen between August 1 and 6. The Pope will go to Portugal for World Youth Day, which takes place in Lisbon and The Sanctuary of Fátima, 40 miles north of the Portuguese capital.
TAP Will fly the Pope and his team from Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport (FCO) on an Airbus A321neo. The non-stop trip will last two hours and 50 minutes.
Photo: TAP Air Portugal.
This shall be the second time His Holiness chooses TAP to fly back to Rome, after visiting Portugal, following his visit in May 2017. Furthermore, throughout TAP’s 78-year history, the airline has had the excellence of flying three other Popes. The primary was Pope Paul VI in 1967, then Pope John Paul II on two trips, in 1982 and 1991, and eventually Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.
TAP Air Portugal has a fleet of 84 aircraft, including 22 Airbus A321neo (of which 12 are Long Range).
How does Pope Francis often travel?
Following the stop of operations of Alitalia and the looks of ITA Airways, this recent Italian flag carrier took the role of official carrier of the Holy Father’s papal flights.
During his travels abroad, Pope Francis often flies with ITA Airways on the primary leg of the journey. Then, His Holiness returns to the Vatican onboard a flight of an airline from the country he had just visited. In 2016, as an example, the Pope visited Mexico and returned to Europe onboard Aeromexico’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Nonetheless, ITA Airways stays the go-to airline for Pope Francis. The truth is, the Pope received a delegation of representatives of ITA Airways in April this yr. During this meeting, he said ITA Airways
Pope Paul VI was the primary Pope to board an airplane for an apostolic pilgrimage in 1964. On January 4 of that yr, he boarded an Alitalia DC8 on a visit to Amman, Jordan. Throughout history, airlines which have carried Popes include American Airlines, Aeromexico, Biman Bangladesh, Avianca, airBaltic, Aer Lingus, SriLankan, LOT Polish Airlines, and Etihad, amongst others.
Photo: Gints Ivuskans/Shutterstock.
During his Papacy, Pope Francis has racked up loads of miles (although he has not matched Pope Joh Paul II’s 129 countries and 725,000 miles yet; Pope Francis has made 40 trips and visited 60 countries within the last ten years). He has also been onboard many planes, including ITA Airways’ A320neo, A330, and A350, Aeromexico’s Boeing 787, Air Malta’s A320neos, and airBaltic’s A220s.
What do you concentrate on this news? Tell us within the comments below.