Vatican City Heliport

Vatican City Heliport
Portus Helicopterorum
Eliporto di Città del Vaticano

Daytime view of Vatican City Heliport
IATA: none – ICAO: VA-0001
Summary
Owner/Operator State of Vatican City
Serves Vatican City
Location Vatican City

Vatican City Heliport (ICAO designation: VA-0001)[1] consists of a 25 × 17 m (82 × 56 ft) rectangular concrete landing area linked with a circular parking area.[2] It is used for short journeys from or to Vatican City by the pope and visiting heads of state.

Structure

The heliport is at 75 m (246 ft) above sea level, in the French-style portion of the Vatican Gardens, and is referred to also as a helipad.[3][4][5][6] It is situated in the westernmost bastion of the Leonine Wall, which at this point marks the boundary of Vatican City State.


History

It was constructed in 1976 under Pope Paul VI (1963-1978), facilitating transfers between Vatican City and the summer papal residence at Castel Gandolfo for occasions such as the regular Wednesday general audience, when travel by car could take a couple of hours each way and would cause inconvenience to other road users.

In 1978, Pope John Paul II had a bronze statue representing Our Lady of Częstochowa placed nearby.

Operation

Flights are conducted only in visual meteorological conditions by visual flight rules.

On 19 June 2011, this was the point of departure and return for Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013) on his pastoral visit to San Marino.[7] Worldwide publicity was given to the flight on 28 February 2013 by Pope Benedict to Castel Gandolfo in the last hours before his resignation took effect.[8][9]

The helicopter now used for the pope is an AgustaWestland AW139 of the Italian Air Force. Initially and until 2012, a Sikorsky SH-3D was used.[2][6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Vatican City heliport". Airport Guide. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ronald V (27 April 2013). "Vatican City heliport". Abandoned, Forgotten and Little Known Airfields in Europe. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  3. ↑ "Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Jimmy Carter, 1980-1981" 2 (May 24 to September 26, 1980). National Archives and Records Administration. p. 1242.
  4. ↑ Povoledo, Elizabeth (2 May 2013). "With Benedict’s Return, Vatican Experiment Begins". The New York Times (NYTimes.com). Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  5. ↑ "Pope's Reign Ends After Emotional Farewell". Sky News. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Tag Archives: Vatican City". The Aviationist. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  7. ↑ "Pastoral Visit to the Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro". Vatican.va. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  8. ↑ "Pope leaves Vatican for last time". BBC News (BBC.com). 28 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  9. ↑ "The Pope leaves the Vatican for the last time". The Daily Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk). 28 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-19.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heliports, helipads and helidecks in the Vatican City.

Coordinates: 41°54′07″N 12°26′47″E / 41.9020°N 12.4465°E