Groundforce Portugal was the elected handler to attend the flights of His Holiness, Pope Francis during the visit to the Shrine of Fatima on the 12 and 13 May 2017.

In a conjoint operation with the airlines Alitalia (arrival) and TAP Portugal (departure), Groundforce Portugal has conducted an exhaustive plan to be carry out the assistance with maximum security, organization and example of our capacity and experience.

On May 12, flights AZ400 (Papal flight) and AZ8001 (return flight) Groundforce handled the A321 aircraft. On the 13th, TAP operated two A320 aircraft, one for H.H. The Pope, entourage and journalists, and one back-up equipment, which flew from Lisbon to Monte Real airbase, and then to Ciampino Airport (Rome).

For the event, Groundforce Portugal selected several equipment that traveled from Lisbon to the Air Base No. 5, for the celebration of the Centenary of the Apparitions, a moment of massive international projection in which Portugal received the Supreme Pontiff, illustrious visitors and journalists from all over the world.

The preparation of this special operation took about two months, with the creation of a multidisciplinary team that involved several areas of the Company in the preparation of the people and the ground support equipment involved, for which a new graphic line was conceived and applied to the entire fleet, and which has stood out in numerous publications.

All this operation of enormous responsibility was characterized by the extreme organization and competence of Groundforce Portugal, having been referred to and praised by both airlines, by the Monte Real Air Base and by the Vatican organization itself.

It was, unquestionably, the achievement of a new level of excellence for Groundforce Portugal, with the certainty that we are up to the most demanding challenges.