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are fulfilled 2 years of the visit of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. in this then, We made a special coverage of the arrival of Pontiff Francis to South America from the aeronautical point of view and all the logistics surrounding his highly publicized visit..
They spent a little more than 30 years since the last time a Pope visited Ecuador, that time it was John Paul II arriving in 1985 also to Venezuela, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago. In this recent opportunity, Ecuador repeated the visit and Bolivia and Paraguay joined as other countries honored with receiving the "First South American Pope"..
Let's remember the story
John Paul II began his visit from 1985 to South America in Venezuela 26 January from Rome. Upon arrival, he was immediately transported in a DC-10-30 of the extinct Viasa YV-138C captained by Rogelio Cortez. This DC-10 moved it between Maiquetía and Maracaibo. Later, Aeropostal would transport it in a DC-9 registration YV-24C between Maracaibo-Mérida-Maiquetía/Maiquetía-Ciudad Guayana-Maiquetía.
It was Tuesday 29 of January of 1985 at 17:56PM when John Paul II landed at the now former Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito in a DC-10 registration I-DYNC and baptized “Luigi Pirandello” from Alitalia, official airline and that has always been in charge of transporting the Pope from Italy to the rest of the world. Coming from Venezuela, he perched on the military platform of Mariscal Sucre to make welcome speeches and also carry out the protocol visits of the case. Later he moved to the cities of Latacunga, Cuenca and Guayaquil, always in charge of the local official transporter of that occasion, the extinct SAN – National Air Services, which in a Boeing 727-100 HC-BIB “City of Cuenca” transported the Pontiff to these cities from Quito. The plane had an interior specially refurbished for the Pope's visit, with special VIP seats and a “first class” accommodation tailored to the technical requirements of the Vatican.
The visit to Ecuador would end on 1 February of the same year in Guayaquil, when at 12 at noon John Paul II continued his trip to the sister country of Peru, where in Lima he would continue with his visit, this time again aboard Alitalia's DC-10. During his visit in Peru he visited 8 cities to which it was transported in a Boeing 727 of the world famous and now defunct Aeroperú, between cities like Arequipa, Piura, Cuzco and others.
From Rome to Quito
Francisco's journey to South America, his first visit to this region of the planet, started at 9 in the morning local time from Rome – Fiumicino aboard the official airline of the Vatican, Alitalia. on this occasion, unlike other trips of the Pope, it was done on an Airbus A330 instead of the regular Boeing 777 that has transported the Pontiff on other occasions. Possibly due to the operational complexity at high-altitude airports, as Quito is or even to make the trip cheaper and with less entourage. The aircraft chosen for this occasion was the Airbus A330-202 EI-EJL, with solo 3 years of operations for the Italian flag carrier.
After 12 hours and 30 minute direct flight from Rome landed at Mariscal Sucre in Quito, leaving behind the 30 years that the Ecuadorian Catholic people had to wait to have a Pope in their lands again. After a brief holding pattern over the North VOR to reach the recommended altitude for the start of the approach procedure, the flight with number AZ4000 descended towards the Ecuadorian capital and minutes later it was seen aligned to the runway and ready to land.. Authorization was granted from the control tower and Pope Francis was already on Ecuadorian land, in the middle of the world.
The plane occupied the 4 100 meters of runway to leave it, time in which the pilots took the opportunity to look out the cabin windows, in a very pleasant protocol gesture, the flags of Ecuador and the Vatican, Francisco was minutes away from stepping on Ecuadorian land for the first time, Like dad. Following a “Follow Me car” the plane headed towards the general aviation platform and protocols., which had been adapted and previously tested with the Tame A330, to ensure that the size and services on land worked perfectly, It was the first time that such a large plane occupied said apron.. Take me during the visit, was the official airline to transport the entourage, guests and international press between Quito and Guayaquil, and also offer transportation to religious personalities from neighboring countries to which the airline flies.
Controls and security prior to arrival had been extreme, and access to the airport, which closed its operations for 2 hours, was restricted, only passengers were allowed to arrive by the only authorized route, even as a means of communication it was difficult for us to reach the air terminal. Given these restrictions, the number of people waiting for the Pope was not greater., but the interest on the part of the airport personnel was high and taking advantage of the 2 Free hours due to the closure of the airport were an excuse to get as close as possible to the plane and take pictures.
Quickly, the plane parked in a south-north direction of the runway., passenger descent stairs were installed, and a few minutes later the Pope was already in Ecuadorian lands.
The next day, Monday 6 from July to 9 AM, Pope Francis moved to Guayaquil, unlike the previous visit that made local flights in SAN, He did it on board the Alitalia Airbus A330 with flight number AZ4002. After 25 flight minutes, the Simón Bolívar air base received for the second time in its history such an important eminence. The same day at 17 hours the return was completed to Quito, from where the 8 July he would move to Bolivia.
From Quito to La Paz
The 8 July the trip from Quito to La Paz was scheduled. Given the complexity of the operation at El Alto International Airport, which requires special certification for operation on the 13 thousand feet (airport height: 13.314 pies) and even landing and takeoff operation with an oxygen mask at all times. With that in mind, it was necessary to have a local operator to safely transfer the Pontiff between these airports.. This is how BoA – Boliviana de Aviación, became the official airline for the transfer of the Pope between Quito, La Paz and Santa Cruz, In other visits of a Pope to Bolivia, the extinct Loyd Aéreo Boliviano was the airline in charge of this operation and privilege..
y Spotting And Aviation.
BoA landed for the first time in Quito the same 8 of July, bringing your newest aircraft, the Boeing 737-700NG CP-2923 that flew as Boliviana Pastoral 900. The departure was scheduled for 12 noon, but the flight was delayed 1 hour. While the BoA flight transported the Pope to La Paz, the airbus 330 from Alitalia traveled directly to Santa Cruz, landing at Viru Viru International Airport, where I would wait for the Pope to continue to Paraguay.
After 3 hours, the Papal flight entered Bolivian airspace and was escorted by 2 Air Force T-33 aircraft. The escorts followed the flight until the plane landed safely and without incident on Bolivian lands.. After following the protocols established in La Paz, the flight continued to Santa Cruz at 20 local hours, where your visit would end on 10 from July to 12:45 noon. The journey continued again aboard the Alitalia plane to Asunción.
From Santa Cruz to Asuncion
With a duration of 2 hours with 15 minutes Pope Francis arrived in Paraguay aboard “his plane” the A330. On time he landed in Asunción at the Silvio Pettirosi International Airport where it would be his last stop on his first visit to the region.. His visit to the latter Latin American country lasted until Sunday 12 of July, always staying in the Paraguayan capital. During the visit of Juan Pablo II to Paraguayan lands, he did it in a historic Boeing 707 of the disappeared and remembered LAP
At 19 local hours, the airbus 330 started his last stretch, this time with flight number AZ4001 direct to Rome, this time to Ciampino–G International Airport. B. Pastine or better known as Rome Ciampino Airport. After some more 13 hours of flight, the Pope was once again on Italian soil, putting an end to 9 days of travel that implied important air logistics and high security parameters in the entire operation involved, that with the support of the authorities of each country was fully complied with, leaving the whole region very high.
www.aeronauticapy.com.
The entire Papal trip required more than 3 500 aeronautical people involved directly and indirectly between the 4 participating countries, including Italy. between controllers, pilots, ground crew and others, added more than 82 000 man hours to carry out all the protocols and activities entrusted for the visit of Pope Francis, which flew approximately a little more than 15 000 miles between Europe and South America passing through 6 different airports and flying both Airbus and Boeing.
We end with a special thanks to Quiport S.A for allowing us to access the platform to take close-up pictures of the Alitalia plane., to Captain Enrique Burgos for the historical photos of 1985, to Dusan Mercado, David Cari and Spotting And Aviation from Bolivia for the photos in their country and Juan Carlos Andrada www.aeronauticapy.com for the collaboration from Paraguay.
Technical data Alitalia
| Alitalia (SO-SO) | |
| foundation | 1999 |
| HUB Principal | Rome Fiumicino International Airport |
| Fleet | 100 |
| destinations (National and international) | 102 |
| Web page | www.alitalia.com |
| papal flight | |
| Airplane | Airbus A330-202 |
| Registration | NON-EJL |
| Serial number | 1283 |
| Manufacturing Year | 2011 |
| Seating | C28 W21 Y175 |
| engines | 2 x GE CF6-80E1A4 |
BoA technical data
| BoA (OB-BOV) | |
| foundation | 2007 |
| HUB Principal | Jorge Wilstermann International Airport |
| Fleet | 14 |
| destinations (National and international) | 12 |
| Web page | www.boa.bo |
| papal flight | |
| Airplane | Boeing 737-700 of |
| Registration | CP-2923 |
| Serial number | 30642 |
| Manufacturing Year | 2002 |
| Seating | Y186 (Modified for the occasion 4 VIP seats) |
| engines | 2 x CFMI CFM56-7B20 |
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