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How the Pope Flies

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

Pope John Paul II has passed from the face of the earth. Pope Benedict XVI has been elected. In the recap and eulogies of John Paul it was noted the numerous trips made by John Paul II and the number of countries he visited.

But no one mentioned how he arrived at those nations. Does the Vatican have a special jet for the Pope? Or does he fly an Italian airline-or the Polish airline LOT since John Paul was Polish?

It appears that the Vatican has no special plane for the pontiff such as Air Force One used by the President of the United States. In fact, the papacy has a rather unusual structure for papal travel. The pope (or John Paul, anyway) used an airline of the nation he was departing. Hence, since John Paul usually left the Vatican via Rome, Italy, Alitalia was the airline taking the pope on his first leg of a journey. From there the Vatican would select an airline of each nation the pope would depart from.

Now, this is assuming every nation on the face of the earth has an airline. I could find no information on whether John Paul ever visited a nation that did not have an airline and what the Vatican did if such a situation had occurred.

But lacking an official plane did not mean other courtesies were neglected. It appears that the plane carrying the pope would be designated Shepherd I. At the very least Trans World Airways' flights carrying the pope were so dubbed, from the research I have been able to glean. Whether that designation was consistent whenever the pope flew, or just when the pope was in U.S. airspace, I cannot tell for sure.

Pope John Paul even made a trip on a Concorde! John Paul II flew the Concorde designated F-BTSC in May 1989. This was the Concorde that would meet a fiery end in France in July 2000. Pope John Paul II was the first (and, so far, last) supersonic Pope.

An airline must submit a proposal to the Vatican in order to earn the privilege of transporting the Pope. The Pope himself does not make the final decision, but he does offer input. As an American airline, TWA had an advantage due to its long history of service to Italy, had high visibility among Italians, and for years was the number one carrier on routes from the US to Rome & Milan. TWA was used for almost all of the Pope's transatlantic flights back from the US as well as several trips within the country. I could find no information that John Paul used any other American airline on his several trips from the United States. In a trip to the United States several years before he became pope, he did fly into Los Angeles on a United Airlines flight.

TAESA uses the papal flight in its schedule cover

Interior of TWA plane for papal flight

Note the coat of arms by the door.

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