An aircraft, painted in red, will fly across the world carrying the message of AIDS awareness as part of a unique initiative of the Civil Aviation Ministry.
The plane, also carrying the AIDS symbol, on Friday landed in New Delhi with a group of AIDS-affected children on the eve of World AIDS Day.
"This programme is the first of its kind in the world. The aircraft would fly across the world creating awareness about HIV/AIDS," said Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.
He also expressed the hope that the awareness campaign would reduce the stigma borne by affected people. Ramadoss and Aviation Minister Praful Patel received the children at the airport.
These 10 children from Mumbai's Sharada Mandir School were happy to fly in the special aircraft to Delhi.
"This is the first time we sat in a plane. It was a great experience to see things from the sky," said one kid.
Talking about the awareness programme, Patel said: "It is an initiative the Aviation Ministry has taken to spread AIDS awareness across the world."
He also announced that from Saturday, which is the World AIDS Day, all Air India flights would carry HIV/AIDS information brochures for the passengers. This awareness programme is part of the 'Heroes Project,' an HIV/AIDS movement.
"This trip act as a catalyst to bring about change and also is part of the initiative for safe sex," said the project's Co-Chairperson Parmeshwar Godrej.
