Earlier this week, Pope Leo XIV spent time in the cockpit of an Air France Airbus A321-200 as he flew from Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE) in the southwest of the country to Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ) in the northeast. During this time, he offered blessings to the flight’s cabin crew, as well as, by radio, the pilots of the fighter jets that were accompanying the special flight across France.

The flight in question was the second of three that Air France operated with one of its Airbus A321-200 narrowbodies in order to facilitate the Pope’s recent visit to the country. It also temporarily renamed the jet involved to mark the occasion. A cockpit visit is special for anyone, but to see the Pope in the flight deck drew particular interest, with Leo XIV reportedly being something of an avgeek himself.

A Special Cockpit Visit

Credit: Simple Flying

According to coverage of the matter by Live & Let’s Fly, the flight in question from Lourdes to Metz took place on the morning of Monday, September 28. You can see its route in the animation embedded above from Simple Flying’s flight tracker. According to historical data made available by Flightradar24, the service in question was numbered as Air France flight AF4005, and it took off at 7:51 AM local time.

After an hour and 12 minutes in the air, the flight landed in Metz at 9:03 AM on Monday. During its cruise, the Pope spent half an hour in the cockpit, with Eric Marguerite​​​​​​, one of the pilots, telling AFP that “we had informal conversations with him. He is passionate about aviation, cars and mechanics.” He also blessed the accompanying fighter pilots and cabin crew, with one flight attendant saying that:

“After all the meticulous planning that went into this flight, receiving a blessing from the Pope in person was a unique moment.”

The Same Aircraft Operated Multiple Special Flights For The Pope

Credit: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock

The aircraft that operated Air France flight AF4005 from Lourdes to Metz on Monday, September 29, was an Airbus A321-200 that bore the registration F-GTAU. Live & Let’s Fly notes that this particular narrowbody twinjet was assigned to all three of the flights that Air France operated in relation to Pope Leo XIV’s recent visit. The first, AF4004, took him and his entourage from Paris (ORY) to Lourdes.

That service operated on the evening of Saturday, September 26, with the jet having repositioned from the nearby Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) earlier that day. The third and final related flight, AF4006, took Pope Leo XIV and his entourage from Metz back to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) in Italy for prime access to the Vatican City on Monday evening, leaving at 7:33 PM and arriving at 8:54 PM.

According to present fleet data made available by Planespotters.net, F-GTAU is one of just four examples of the Airbus A321-200 that are left in the Air France portfolio today. It is 17.6 years old, and normally bears the name ‘Beaune.’ However, during its stint ferrying Pope Leo XIV and his entourage around, it was renamed ‘Cité du Vatican.’ Now, however, F-GTAU has returned to flying ‘normal’ passengers.

Pope Leo XIV Also Had An Eventful Trip With Iberia Earlier This Year

Credit: Lukas Wunderlich | Shutterstock

As the head of the Catholic church, the Pope is someone who makes headlines wherever he goes, including when it comes to aviation. Indeed, you may recall that, earlier last year, he and his delegation were delayed leaving Tenerife North Airport (TFN) when the engines on their Iberia Airbus A320 would not start amid strong winds. Leo XIV eventually flew home on the Spanish King’s Dassault Falcon 900.

Much like Air France, Iberia had also pulled out all the stops when it came to accommodating Pope Leo XIV and his entourage, even going as far as to fit the aircraft’s seats with special antimacassars on the headrests. Of course, with the Dassault Falcon being a much smaller aircraft than the Airbus A320, most of the delegation had to stay behind, and eventually flew home on a replacement Iberia Airbus A320.