Vatican flights take pilgrims into the sky

Since Southwest began the world’s first discount airline in the 70’s the no-frills model has caught on across the globe. New budget carriers spring up every month. While popular, it is nevertheless somewhat surprising that the Vatican has gotten on board, launching its own low-cost airline in order to transport pilgrims to the sites of religious interest.

The Vatican’s first flight is scheduled to take pilgrims from Rome to Lourdes on August 27th. Other destinations on the airline’s flight plan include visits to Portugal, where worshippers can visit the shrine of Fatima, and Guadalupe in Mexico for the shrine of the Madonna. In the future, the airline is considering offering flights to Spain to the Santiago di Compostella, one of the world’s most famous pilgrimage sites.

Mistral Air, a small Italian carrier, will be operating the flights. The airline is based in Rome’s Ciampino airport.

The Ansa news agency in Italy claims that the plane’s interiors will be decorated with sacred inscriptions. Furthermore, the flight crew on the pilgrimage flights will be “specialised in the voyages of a sacred nature”.

Lourdes is one of the most popular holy sites in Europe. Amongst the millions of visitors this year will most likely be the Cardinal Cammillo Ruini, Rome’s vicar. It seems likely that he will board the first flight to Lourdes at the end of August.

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