Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh is set to leave office on October 31, 2026, after receiving three separate official farewells in the days leading up to his superannuation. A final ceremonial Guard of Honour is planned for his last day as Chief of the Air Staff at Air Force Station, New Delhi.
Farewell events before retirement
According to senior officials, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hosted an official farewell for Air Chief Marshal Singh on October 26, before leaving on a foreign visit. The next day, senior Air Force commanders held a farewell dinner for him at the Akash Officers’ Mess near India Gate. Air Headquarters then organised another farewell function on October 28 at the Air Force auditorium in Subroto Park.
The concluding event will be the Guard of Honour at Air Force Station, New Delhi, which is located opposite the Prime Minister’s residence on Lok Kalyan Marg. Air Chief Marshal Singh is completing a 25-month tenure as the 28th Chief of the Air Staff. He took charge on September 30, 2024, after Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari.
Final sorties and special permission
As part of the farewell sequence, the Ministry of Defence granted special clearance for Air Chief Marshal Singh to fly with his first flying instructor, Wing Commander V.S. Kochhar (Retd). On October 20, he flew his last sortie in uniform in an HJT-16 Kiran Mk-1 trainer, tail number U-707, at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal, near Hyderabad. The aircraft type and location matched the place where he began his flying training on January 28, 1984.
The 55-minute flight brought a more than four-decade-long aviation journey full circle, and he received a water-cannon salute on landing. The source notes that special high-level permissions are required when retired or civilian personnel fly in military aircraft.
Earlier, on October 12 during Exercise Tarang Shakti at Jodhpur, he had completed his final fighter sortie in the indigenous LCA Tejas. Air Chief Marshal Singh is a Qualified Flying Instructor and Experimental Test Pilot with more than 5,000 flying hours. He was commissioned into the fighter stream on December 21, 1984, after graduating from the Air Force Academy with the Sword of Honour. Born on October 27, 1964, he has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. He is also known within the service for his interest in squash.
Context around the farewell
Officials said the traditional “golfing-out” event was an unofficial farewell and could not be held because the Indian Air Force Sports Complex on Lok Kalyan Marg had been closed. The statement comes amid speculation that a farewell was being withheld because the land of the Air Force golf course had been taken over by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, who is currently Vice Chief of the Air Staff, will take over as the 29th Chief of the Air Staff in the rank of Air Chief Marshal on the afternoon of October 31. Commissioned into the fighter stream in December 1986, he is an Experimental Test Pilot and Qualified Flying Instructor with over 3,500 flying hours on aircraft including the Mirage-2000, Jaguar, MiG variants, Hawk and Tejas. His tenure is scheduled to continue until December 31, 2028. He has earlier served as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command.
The transition will formally close Air Chief Marshal Singh’s leadership of the Indian Air Force after nearly four decades of service.
