Poonawalla Family’s Bombardier Global 6500 returns to Pune from Belgian air base after vaccine-policy meetings

Belgium hosts the headquarters of several European pharmaceutical bodies and the European Medicines Agency’s main committees often convene in Brussels or nearby. Chièvres Air Base sits roughly 50 kilometers from Brussels, making it a convenient and discreet gateway for high-net-worth travelers avoiding commercial congestion at Brussels Airport or Zaventem. The aircraft’s earlier movements — including a September 27 hop from an Oman waypoint (23.58,60.10) to a location near Prague (50.11,14.24) — suggest a multi-city European itinerary before the final leg home. VT-CCA had also flown London-Luton to Navi Mumbai on September 14, and Mumbai to London-Luton on September 5, showing a pattern of frequent Europe-India rotations in late summer. [celebplanes.com](https://www.celebplanes.com/celebrity/poonawalla-family)

This particular return to Pune — the family’s home base and location of the Serum Institute headquarters — falls into a well-worn groove. The Poonawalla family has publicly stated in past interviews, as in *The Times* travel piece, that they value the efficiency of private aviation for business: “Half of your day goes on roadshows… We don’t like to be asked: why are you using your private jet for that?” [thetimes.com](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/asia-travel/india/profile-we-crashed-global-prices-pss3mbqlb9c) The fleet of four Bombardier Global jets (VT-CCA, VT-CDC, VT-NAD, and VT-CDP) ensures that at least one aircraft is almost always airborne or ready. Over the tracked 50 flights, the fleet has emitted an estimated 675.3 tonnes of CO₂, a number that reflects the family’s global reach as much as its operational needs.

If the flight from Chièvres was indeed carrying the Poonawallas back to Pune, it would be the latest in a series of logistics moves supporting a business that produces nearly 80% of the world’s measles vaccines and half of its rabies and tetanus doses. No single headline from this week summons them home, but for a family whose company “crashed global prices” for vaccines and now holds the title of the fourth-richest in India (Forbes, 2022), a quiet return from European policy discussions is as newsworthy as any gala appearance.