NEW DELHI: India is likely get its new long-haul VVIP aircraft for use of the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister by the second half of 2018 — the final year of Narendra Modi 's first term as PM. "The Boeing 747s used currently for long flights by the top VVIPs may be old but they are perfectly safe and comfortable to use. They need to do so with a stopover in Europe and being old, are not exactly fuel-savers. The new and fuel efficient B 777-300 ER will be able to fly nonstop on trans-Atlantic/Pacific routes to North America ," said a source.AI has five B747s in its fleets that are maintained mainly for such VVIP flights. The airline will phase its trusted old planes once the replacement comes.

Source: Times of India May 23, 2017 22:19 UTC