New Delhi: Ushering an era of power-jetting-in-style for VVIPs, President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday formally inducted the Indian Air Force's newly-acquired, highly-secure Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) and embarked on her visit to Arunachal Pradesh and Assam on its inaugural flight.
Patil performed prayers and cut a ribbon to mark the commissioning of the Rs 934-crore BBJs in to the IAF's Communication Squadron at Palam airport in New Delhi.
Walking up the red-carpeted stairway, the President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, waved at the IAF personnel and the media corps before settling down in the plush VVIP cabin, which comprises a state-of-the-art executive office with conferencing facility and a private room with a double bed cot and in-flight entertainment features.
Designed to act as a command centre-cum-office in the sky in the event of an emergency such as a nuclear attack, the BBJs -- derived from Boeing 737-700 -- is custom built for the IAF by the US aircraft manufacturer and can carry a maximum of 46 passengers and a large cargo space.
"The trip would now be more business like. We will get more time to study, concentrate and apply our minds as flight will be more smooth," said Patil, just before the flight took off from Palam for the north-east.
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