New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS): President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday boarded the Air India One -- B777 aircraft -- on its inaugural flight to Chennai, said Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.

"This is the first flight of the Air India One -- B777 aircraft with the Head of State on board. The aircraft is fuel efficient and has longer range than the B747-400 that are deployed for similar VVIP operations. The aircraft has state-of-art interiors with reduced noise levels," the statement said.

On the occasion of inaugural flight of Air India One - B777, President Kovind commended pilots, crew members and the entire team of the Air India and the Indian Air Force for operating the state-of-the-art aircrafts and facilitating VVIP movements within India and on state visits abroad.

Air India One is the call sign for the VVIP aircraft used by Indian President, Vice President and Prime Minister.

These two aircraft were part of Air India's commercial fleet for a few months in 2018 before they were sent back to Boeing for retrofitting them for VVIP travel.

The B777 planes will have state-of-the-art missile defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS).