new air force oneFormer Qatari-owned Boeing 747-8 jet has been transformed into the official plane of the US President, unveiled by the President Donald Trump on Friday.
According to reporters, this aircraft is larger and more luxurious than the current presidential plane.
Trump said he planned to use the new plane at next month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, and hinted that he might visit China again later. He added that his return from the G7 summit in France this week marked the last scheduled journey on the current Air Force One.
He also mentioned that next month, the new Air Force One will fly over during the Fourth of July celebrations.
The gift from Qatar will serve as a “bridge” aircraft to transport the president until a new plane ordered directly from Boeing arrives, the Associated Press reported. As of now, it is planned for 2028.
Luxury aircraft interior: “…more like a house”
The new plane’s underbelly is painted navy blue with crimson stripes, giving it a bolder appearance than the robin’s egg blue look of the Kennedy era.
The presidential seal is located on the left side of the plane where the president boarded, and a huge American flag hangs at the tail of the plane.
A group of reporters visited the aircraft this week. The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese described the plane as “feeling more like a house than an airplane.” The plane features warm tan walls, smooth finishes, silver accents, solid wood tables and the presidential seal on each seat belt, she said.
Rees wrote“The pressing area is 2-3 times that of the old aircraft.”
The plane features a lounge with sofas, a conference area decorated with photos of the National Mall in Washington and upgraded seats, according to Reese, who toured the aircraft. Rhys noticed that the seat reclined completely into the bed. She described the plane as having a “new airplane smell.”
Read more: End of an era: Trump becomes last president to fly iconic Air Force One as legendary plane retired
Political and Ethical Issues Surrounding Gift Planes
Trump said on Friday that the United States was in a “kind of gridlock” while waiting for new planes to arrive directly from Boeing. He recounted requesting the use of one of their aircraft from the Emir of Qatar.
“Look, a normal president wouldn’t do this. A normal president would want to stay away from airplanes. But our country has to be properly represented,” he said.
Despite concerns over the ethics and legality of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign country, the U.S. government officially accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jet from Qatar as the presidential plane last year.
Trump has said in the past that the Qatari plane would be donated to future presidential archives rather than used for travel when he leaves office.
The U.S. Air Force said in a press statement that the Qatari aircraft “were modified following a rigorous engineering approach that prioritized these core capabilities over safety modifications.”
The modifications would cost less than $400 million, according to past comments from the organization.
