Pope Francis will fly with Israeli national carrier El Al when he returns home from his visit to Israel next month.

El Al will assign a special crew and mark the plane with the official Vatican seal for the Boeing 777 flight.

While the Pope has a specially modified bombproof “Popemobile” car with a hydraulic-lift seat and his own oxygen supply, he does not have a special papal plane , but rather flies on a standard Alitalia aircraft, the national airline of Italy.

El Al CEO David Maimon said: “We are proud to have been chosen to serve the Pope and his entourage on this historic visit to Israel with a special flight to Rome following the Pope’s visit.

“We are making all the necessary arrangements to accommodate for this historic pilgrimage, including assigning a special crew of service personnel for the flight.”

The papal delegation on the flight will include 30 church officials from the Vatican and 70 journalists. Special crew members and flight attendants have also been selected by the airline to serve the Pope and his entourage.