Air France will transport Pope Leo XIV during his first official visit to France, scheduled from 25 to 28 September 2026, continuing the airline’s long tradition of operating special flights for pontiffs.
An Airbus A321 will be dedicated to the papal delegation, carrying Pope Leo XIV, accompanying cardinals and accredited journalists. The aircraft will feature the Vatican City coat of arms both on its exterior and inside the cabin.
Air France will operate three flights during the visit. On 26 September, the Pope will fly from the Honorary Pavilion at Paris Orly to Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées. On 28 September, the A321 will carry the delegation from Lourdes to Metz-Nancy-Lorraine, before operating the Pope’s return flight from Metz to Rome Fiumicino that evening.
The assignment continues a long association between Air France and papal travel. In May 1989, Pope John Paul II flew aboard an Air France Concorde from Saint-Denis on Réunion Island to Lusaka, Zambia, during an African tour. The airline subsequently carried him from Reims to Rome aboard an Airbus A310 in 1996.
In 2008, Air France also transported Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to France, operating special Airbus A321 flights from Paris Orly to Lourdes and from Lourdes to Rome.
The September operation will therefore add Pope Leo XIV to the list of pontiffs carried by the French flag carrier and mark another notable chapter in Air France’s history of papal flights.
This post was published on 10 August 2026 21:52
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