Originally Posted by
COSPILOT
Good one!
Honestly, I haven't looked at how the Pope is traveling on this trip. I assume he is flying in a private plane, but given his humble nature, I could see him insisting he fly coach (in a middle seat). I'm not Catholic but he seems pretty cool IMO.
The Vatican does not have a State aircraft. Traditionally the Pope has flown on a charter aircraft flagged by the country he is departing from. That means he's always flying Alitalia when leaving Rome but often on another carrier when returning. In this case there's no way a Cuban-flagged plane was going to be used in to the USA but I do not know what he'll fly home on.
The Vatican City doesn't have a papal plane. It has to rely on a chartered jet provided by Alitalia. When the Pope leaves a country, the protocol is that he should fly on board a plane from that country's flagship airline. In the case of Pope Francis' recent visit to the Philippines, he arrived in Manila onboard a SriLankan Airlines jet, since he was previously in Sri Lanka, and left with a Philippine Airlines aircraft. If a country the Pope visits doesn't have an airline that would meet the Vatican standards in terms of security, size, and other concerns, he will fly with Alitalia instead.
http://www.exyuaviation.com/p/saraje...for-papal.html