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A senior Vatican cardinal inaugurated a low-cost charter flight service to transport Catholic pilgrims to holy sites. The first flight from Rome to Lourdes in France took off at 1130 (0930 GMT), using a small charter airline owned by the Italian post office. The airline expects to transport around 150,000 pilgrims in its first year. Flights will initially go to Catholic shrines in France, Poland, Spain and the Middle East, and there are plans to include Mexico later on, BBC News online reported Monday.The Vatican signed a five-year agreement through its local travel agency that organizes pilgrimages for the Rome Diocese. The charter airline, called Mistral Air, normally carries courier cargo, letters and parcels for the Italian post office.Low cost airlines are doing good business in Italy. Last year the number of passengers increased by 20%.The Vatican itself has no airline and no airport, just a helipad used by the Pope for local journeys with the Italian air force providing helicopter transport. Mistral Air's two charter jets, however, are already painted in the Vatican colors of yellow and white. Moreover, interiors are decorated with sacred inscriptions such as: "I search for your face, Lord."As in the days of Noah...
