Tracking the international delegations arriving in Glasgow for COP26

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Delegates from all over the world flew to Glasgow on Sunday night and Monday morning as the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference got under way.

Representatives from the American, French and Indian administrations were among those who boarded planes to Scotland after attending the G20 summit in Rome at the weekend.

Plans for some to take the train to Glasgow from London were scuppered after a fallen tree caused long delays and cancellations on the line.

Aviation enthusiasts have been monitoring flight-tracking databases as delegations headed to the Scottish city ahead of the two-week-long COP26.

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This image shows the position of Air Force One as it travelled towards Glasgow at 10.20am on Monday. Pic: ADS-B Exchange

Arguably the most famous aircraft used by a head of state or government, US Air Force One, left Rome just after 8am today.

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Air Force One is the air traffic control call sign given to any US air force plane carrying the US president.

The aircraft was followed by a second US air force plane, with the callsign SAM46.

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SAM, which stands for Special Air Mission, means the plane is designed to safely transport high-ranking US government officials.

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In this image captured at 10.27am, Air Force One (blue) and SAM46 (purple) can be seen heading to Edinburgh. Pic: ADS-B Exchange

US representatives had been in the Italian capital for the G20 summit on Saturday and Sunday.

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The US aircraft landed in Edinburgh, which is just under 50 miles from Glasgow, at around 11am. Pic: ADS-B Exchange

Both aircraft had landed in Edinburgh by around 11am on Monday, before the group headed on to Glasgow to address the conference.

A video posted on social media showed President Biden’s motorcade heading into the Scottish city.

Two French air force planes left Villacoublay outside Paris just after 9am on Monday heading for Glasgow.

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The French air force planes arrived in Glasgow from Paris. Pic: ADS-B Exchange

The Falcon 7X aircraft circled over Lanarkshire just south of the city at 10.15am, before landing around 20 minutes later.

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The jets were circling over Lanarkshire at around 10.15am. Pic: ADS-B Exchange

One of the Falcons – business jets designed to transport groups of people – can be seen approaching Glasgow Airport in a video shared just before 11am.

The aircraft had returned to Paris from the G20 summit in Rome just before 8pm on Sunday, where they remained overnight before heading on to Glasgow.

An hour and a half later on Sunday evening, Indian representatives landed in Glasgow on board Air India One.

Similarly to the United States, this is the call sign given to any Indian Air Force plane carrying the president or vice president of India.

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The Indian air force plane landed in Glasgow on Sunday evening. Pic: ADS-B Exchange

The Indian delegation flew in to Glasgow straight from Rome, where they had been staying since Friday for the G20 summit.

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The aircraft left Delhi on Thursday, arriving in Rome early on Friday morning. Pic: ADS-B Exchange

All representatives from each administration had arrived at the COP26 venue Glasgow by early afternoon, where heads of state and government were invited to deliver statements about their nation’s climate commitments at the world leaders’ summit.

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