WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump says Air Force One isn’t up to snuff.
When he lands and looks over at the planes of the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sitting on the tarmac, he says his presidential ride doesn’t compare.
“This is like a totally different plane,” Trump told Fox News commentator Sean Hannity this week aboard Air Force One during his trip to the Middle East. “It’s much smaller. It’s less impressive.”
Yet as Trump plans to accept Boeing 747-8, often dubbed a “palace in the sky,” from Qatar’s royal family ‒ a $400 million foreign gift that would be the largest ever to a U.S. president ‒ the exterior differences might not jump off the page for the casual flyer.
Plane negotiations: Trump in talks to accept luxury jet from Qatar’s royal family
The Qatari plane stretches 18 feet 4 inches longer than Air Force One, can carry more weight and fly slightly faster and farther. It’s also 22 years newer than Air Force One, built in 1990. Both planes hold about the same number of passengers and have the same height.
But the Qatari plane separates itself most visibly with its lavish inside amenities ‒ creamy white and tan leather furnishings, rugs and artwork designed by the famed French interior design firm Cabinet Alberto Pinto, according to Bloomberg.
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Trump has portrayed the jet as an aging relic and the Qatari plane as a badly needed upgrade. “We’re the United States of America,” Trump said. “I believe that we should have the most impressive plane.”
But if converted to Air Force One, the Qatari plane’s inside would have to be entirely stripped, scrubbed for surveillance technology for security reasons and effectively rebuilt, Republicans lawmakers on committees that oversee the nation’s armed services and intelligence agencies told the Wall Street Journal.
Trump has complained that Boeing has been too slow to complete a new Air Force One after his first administration in 2018 awarded the company a $3.9 billion contract to build two new Air Force One jets. CNN reported the new planes could be delivered by 2027 ‒ two years earlier than the most recently predicted date and before Trump’s second term ends. (The Air Force operates a second Air Force One jet, also a Boeing 747-200B series aircraft, deployed in 1991.)
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Trump’s idea is for the Qatari plane to serve as the temporary Air Force One until Boeing finishes building the new versions. The plane would then go to his future presidential library.
Democrats and other critics of the move argue accepting the plane could violate the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which bars any U.S. official from accepting “any present” of “any kind whatsoever, from any King, Prince, or foreign state.”
The White House has countered that the plane is a gift to the U.S. Air Force, not Trump personally.
The White House has not released information about the Qatari plane that Trump covets. But the news publication Semafor tracked the tail number of the plane when it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport in South Florida this summer. The number matches a Boeing serial number of a plane detailed in a 16-page “aircraft specification summary” by the Swiss firm AMAC Aerospace
It’s unclear whether the Qatari plane has undertaken accommodations since the summary was posted in 2023.
Here is a comparisons of the Qatari plane versus Air Force One based on publicly available information:
Boeing 747-200B v. Boeing 747-8
Air Force One is a Boeing 747-200B, which has increased fuel capacity and more powerful engines than the standard 747-200. Boeing first started serving the model in 1972.
Air Force One has upgrades from a standard 747-200B that include special electronic and communications equipment, a self-contained baggage loader, front and aft air-stairs and the capability for in-flight refueling.
The Qatari plane is a Boeing 747-8, a widebody aircraft with lengthened fuselage and redesigned wings, according to Boeing. The model went onto the market in 2011.
Ages of planes
The current Air Force One plane was completed in 1990 and has served six presidents: George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Trump, both in his first and second non-consecutive terms.
The Qatari royal family purchased the Boeing 747-B in 2012, the same year it was built. The plane’s interior was refurbished and it began service in 2015.
Qatari plane can fly farther
In addition to being longer and a bit taller, the 747-B owned by Qatar also has a wider wing span: 224 feet, 5 inches, compared to Air Force One’s 195, 8 inches.
The Qatari 747-8 can also fly farther without refueling. Air Force One can fly about 7,751 miles without needing to refuel. That’s equivalent to a flight west from Washington D.C. to Tokyo.
The 747-B has a maximum take-off weight of 987,000 pounds, compared to 833,000 pounds for Air Force One.
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Inside the rooms on Air Force One
Air Force One has about 4,000 square feet of interior floor space, according to information from Boeing and the U.S. Force.
That includes an executive suite with quarters for both the president and first lady (equipped with a dressing room, lavatory and shower), a conference and dining room, an office area for senior staff members, an area that can convert into a medical facility, as well as sitting areas for the presidential staff and Secret Service, Air Force crews and traveling members of the press.
Air Force One also contains two galleys that can provide 100 meals at one sitting, advanced multi-frequency radios for air-to-air, ground and satellite communications and state-of-the-art navigation, electronic and communications equipment.
The plane has six passenger lavatories.
Inside the Qatari plane
The interior of the Qatari plane has a more modern design with chic cream white couches, seats and rugs, photos of the plane show.
Artwork from the late American sculptor Alexander Calder is featured throughout, according to Bloomberg, along with custom-made Tai Ping rugs, sycamore and wacapou wood fixtures.
The layout includes a master bedroom, guest bedroom, a private hallway for the executive residence, an upper deck lounge area with a long leather sofa facing a large flat screen television, additional loung areas with oversized leather seats, a private office and several galleries.
Amenities include electric window shades, water systems that allow hot and cold water for each sink and shower, a digital entertainment and game system, along with sophisticated sound, television and broadband internet systems.
The plane has nine lavatories for passengers in addition to one lavatory in the bedroom suite and another in the guest bedroom.
This story was updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Air Force One vs the Qatari 747: How they compare
The post How Air Force One stacks up to the Qatari 747, Trump’s coveted ‘palace in the sky’ appeared first on USA TODAY.
