Air India One, custom made for President and Prime Minister, arrives in Delhi

New Delhi : A custom-made B777 aircraft, a custom made plane specially designed for the usage of President and Prime Minister, has landed in Delhi from the US on Thursday, said government officials.

The delivery of the plane was scheduled in July this year, but it got delayed twice due to coronavirus pandemic, said a report.

Air India One, which is the call sign of the aircraft, landed at the Delhi airport from Texas at around 3 pm today.

Senior officials of the national carrier had reached the US during the first half of August to receive the plane from Boeing, the officials said.

The similar second Boeing B777 will arrive in India at a later date.

According to the officials, the total cost of purchase for the two planes is around Rs 8400 crores. 

The B777 planes will have state-of-the-art missile defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS).

In February, the US agreed to sell the two defence systems to India at a cost of USD 190 million.

The planes will be operated by the pilots of Indian Air Force and not the Air India pilots, said officials. 

Currently, the President, Vice President and Prime Minister, fly on Air India's B747 planes, which have the call sign Air India One.