News
Cancel
PoliticsPoliticsView in App

No closure of airspace for Air Force One during Barack Obama's India visit

Air Force One flying in Barack Obama to Delhi later this week will get exactly the same treatment that Air India One, carrying our president or PM, gets abroad.

By , TNN | Updated:
No closure of airspace for Air Force One during Barack Obama's India visit
NEW DELHI: The Modi government has brought India on equal footing with the world's superpowers — at least on one front. This time, Air Force One flying in Barack Obama to Delhi later this week will get exactly the same treatment that Air India One, carrying our president or PM, gets abroad.

"As of now, there are no instructions to close airspace in Delhi for commercial aircraft when Air Force One lands and takes off from here. We will follow the protocol that is done whenever our president or PM is flying. The VVIP aircraft will be given priority in landing and take-off. There will be no delay or holding. This is what happens when AI One or IAF One (a Boeing Business Jet maintained and operated by IAF) goes abroad or flies within India," said a senior official.

As a result, Delhi's airspace is closed like each R-Day from 10.45am to 12.15pm from January 18 to 24 and then the 26th for flypast rehearsals and then the actual thing. As of now, there is no airspace closure due to Air Force One, said multiple sources.

Till some time back, air traffic would be closed on the runway where a VVIP aircraft is to land or take off for 10 minutes before and af-ter its movement. In the case of all places in India except Delhi, it meant shutting airports for commercial traffic for 20 minutes.

With three runways, Delhi's IGI Airport saw only the runway earmarked for VVIP operations being closed for other traffic for 20 minutes. But now, even this practice has been discontinued with.

Also, Air India One is treated exactly as per the new Indian protocol when it flies abroad and now VVIP flights from other countries will be treated the same.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
Eight major defence achievements for India in 2014
1/9
Economictimes.com & Agencies

The need to have robust defence capabilities in today's day and age cannot be overstated. India has been aggressively pushing to enhance its ability to deter attacks and up its defence prowess.

2014 saw multiple steps being taken in that direction and India saw many new additions to its defence fleet. We take a look at eight achievements that deserve a special mention:
Economictimes.com & Agencies

The need to have robust defence capabilities in today's day and age cannot be overstated. India has been aggressively pushing to enhance its ability to dete..
Read More
The 6,800-tonne INS Kolkata, the largest-ever warship to be built in India, was commissioned in August 2014. The warship is country's biggest and most powerful guided missile-destroyer.

The INS Kolkata is 60 per cent indigenous and has very good stealth capabilities and includes state-of-the-art surveillance and weapon systems. INS Kolkata, which is the first of the three warships under the Project-15B, was sanctioned at Rs 3,051 crore and now the project cost is pegged at Rs 11,662 crore.

INS Kolkata is part of the 44 warships currently on order in Indian shipyards, as part of the endeavour to steadily build a three-dimensional blue-water Navy capable of taking care of India's huge strategic interests in the region stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Malacca Strait.

Image by Indian Navy
The 6,800-tonne INS Kolkata, the largest-ever warship to be built in India, was commissioned in August 2014. The warship is country's biggest and most powerful guided missile-destroyer.

The IN..
Read More
Giving a boost to India's defence, the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Technology Demonstrator TD-3 recently made its successful maiden flight. LCH is an indigenous attack helicopter development programme being undertaken by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

According to HAL, LCH was proposed to meet IAF's requirement of a dedicated light helicopter for combat operations. HAL claims that the LCH TD-3 will be an effective weapon platform to deliver precision strikes at high altitude.

HAL has already developed two prototypes of the LCH - the Technology Demonstrator (TD1) and the TD2.

Image by HAL
Giving a boost to India's defence, the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Technology Demonstrator TD-3 recently made its successful maiden flight. LCH is an indigenous attack helicopter development progra..
Read More
In a big boost to India's defence capabilities, and specially that of the Navy, a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Prototype 1 recently had a successful test flight from a Shore Based Test Facility in Goa.

LCA (Navy) is an indigenously designed and developed 4th plus generation combat aircraft, meant to operate from the decks of aircraft carriers.

LCA (Navy) is designed with stronger landing gears to absorb forces exerted by the ski jump ramp during take-off, to be airborne within 200 m as against 1000 m required for normal runways, says DRDO.

Image from DRDO
In a big boost to India's defence capabilities, and specially that of the Navy, a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Prototype 1 recently had a successful test flight from a Shore Based Test Facility in Goa..
Read More
INS Sumitra, an indigenously built naval offshore patrol vessel (NOPV), was commissioned into the naval fleet in September. This is the Navy's largest offshore patrol vessel.

The 2200-tonne vessel is the biggest NOPV to be developed at Goa Shipyard. The vessel is the fourth in the series of indigenous NOPV developed for Indian Navy.

It also has medium and short range weapons installed in it. They include 76mm guns, Close-in Weapon System (CIWS), electronic support and a communication intelligence system. It has a helipad to operate one light weight Dhruv helicopter.
INS Sumitra, an indigenously built naval offshore patrol vessel (NOPV), was commissioned into the naval fleet in September. This is the Navy's largest offshore patrol vessel.

The 2200-tonne v..
Read More
In a major boost for both, the Indian Navy and Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), the Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine - INS Sindhukirti, which has been undergoing a medium refit at HSL, was undocked at the yard.

According to senior HSL officials, the submarine is expected to be handed over to the Indian Navy in the next few months after it undertakes trials at sea.

The medium refit, which is estimated to have cost around Rs 800-900 crore, took nearly seven years for the submarine to be undocked at the shipyard.
In a major boost for both, the Indian Navy and Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), the Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine - INS Sindhukirti, which has been undergoing a medium refit at HSL, wa..
Read More
India's first indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air-to-Air missile 'Astra' was tested successfully in 2014. The indigenously developed missile from the DRDO is an all-weather weapon with active Radar terminal guidance.

According to DRDO, the missile boasts of excellent ECCM features, smokeless propulsion and process improved effectiveness in multi-target scenario.

The Astra missile was test fired from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI. The missiles have undergone rigorous testing on Su-30 in the captive mode for avionics integration and seeker evaluation in 2013.

Image by: DRDO
India's first indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air-to-Air missile 'Astra' was tested successfully in 2014. The indigenously developed missile from the DRDO is an all-weather weapon wi..
Read More
After a gap of over two decades, India is operating two aircraft carriers in its maritime zone with the arrival of its largest warship INS Vikramaditya in the Arabian Sea where it is now operating with INS Viraat.

The Indian Navy has two aircraft carriers at sea after over 20 years. INS Vikramaditya is designed to boost India's maritime capabilities.

In Indian Navy, the warship with a length of 284m will have MiG-29K naval combat aircraft along with Kamov 31 and Kamov 28 anti-submarine warfare and maritime surveillance helicopters.

Image by Indian Navy
After a gap of over two decades, India is operating two aircraft carriers in its maritime zone with the arrival of its largest warship INS Vikramaditya in the Arabian Sea where it is now operating wi..
Read More
In October, India successfully test-fired its first indigenously designed and developed long-range subsonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay' with a strike range of over 1,000 kms from the Integrated Test Range (ITR).

The 1000-km-class cruise missile capable of striking deep into enemy territory, has been designed and developed by DRDO at it's aeronautics R&D laboratory ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment) based in Bengaluru.

The missile is yet another giant step forward in India's technological capabilities for design development and leading to production sophisticated weapons platforms and equipment for the armed forces, officials have said.

Image by: DRDO
In October, India successfully test-fired its first indigenously designed and developed long-range subsonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay' with a strike range of over 1,000 kms from the Integrated Test Ran..
Read More
See More SlideshowsMore Slideshows
READ MORE
ADVERTISEMENT

READ MORE:

Air India |Barack Obama |IAF |Boeing |Air Force One |Modi Government |VVIP flights

LOGIN & CLAIM

50 TIMESPOINTS

Lashkar group which sneaked into India from Pakistan gives security agencies the jitters

More from our Partners

Loading next story
Cancel
Business News › News › Politics › No closure of airspace for Air Force One during Barack Obama's India visit
Text Size:AAA

Popular Categories

Hot on Web

In Case you missed it

Top Searched Companies

Download ET APP


Follow us on


Powered by

become a member

Terms of Use & Grievance Redressal Policy
DNPA Code of Ethics|Privacy Policy|Archive|Delete Data|Feedback|

Copyright © 2026 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights:
Times Syndication Service

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Success
This article has been saved

*

+