To develop air transport to holy sites, the BBC Russian service reports, the Vatican has signed a five-year agreement with its own tourism company Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, which organizes pilgrimage tours, and with the Italian postal carrier Mistral Air, which previously only handled cargo air deliveries. So far, only two aircraft of a small charter airline have been painted in the colors of the official flag of the residence of the Pope's court. Although in the first year of operation alone, the Vatican hopes to transport about 150,000 passengers, and the routes are to include Catholic shrines in France, Poland, Spain, Portugal, and the Middle East, and eventually Mexico.
It is expected that the Vatican airline will begin actively transporting pilgrims to holy Catholic sites in these countries in December 2007. It also plans to open routes to Jerusalem and Egypt to visit Mount Sinai, also known as Mount Moses. In addition, the Vatican airline will operate flights to countries where important events for the Catholic community are taking place. For example, in 2008, the company plans flights to Sydney, Australia, for the World Youth Congress. The air carrier will evidently operate from Rome, since there are no airports in the Vatican itself, only a helipad. Recall that Pope Benedict XVI himself prefers a helicopter for shorter journeys.
It seems the Vatican expects that regardless of the destination, the very idea of flying under the Church's patronage should be attractive to tourists. According to the BBC, on board Vatican airline planes, headrests will be decorated with Bible quotes, and during the flight, passengers can listen to prayers and learn about Catholic shrines through video and audio recordings. In addition, flight attendants on Vatican aircraft will be specially trained to serve religious passengers. It is unclear, however, how the new company's slogan – a quote from the psalm: "I will seek your face, Lord" – will affect the superstitions of tourists, many of whom are already wary of air travel.
In any case, it seems the Pope's entourage believes true Catholics will not be put off. And the Vatican's own airline, the bulk of whose revenues come from Catholic donations and religious tourism, will help educate and attract parishioners of the Roman Catholic Church by lowering prices for pilgrim transport. "We need to make pilgrimage more accessible, and this initiative will allow us to reduce the normal ticket price by 10-15%," the BBC quotes the director of the travel company Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, Father Cesare Atuire. The Vatican, according to Father Atuire, has exclusively educational goals in organizing its own air transport. "This is not about making money; it is what we believe in," he said. "We want people to have a religious experience that will help strengthen their faith."
However, according to representatives of the World Tourism Organization, given the growing interest of tourists in pilgrimage routes, the Vatican airline may become worthy competition for existing airlines in the global market, not only for Catholic tourists but also for travelers of other faiths.