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Other StuffPublished: May 12, 2026

As if making the world leaders look poor with his new $600 million 747-8 jet with solid gold fittings, lounges, and plush bedrooms wasn’t enough, the Sultan of Brunei made them look weak by calmly piloting the world’s largest and most complex private aircraft to a summit

by Sayan Chakravarty

Most world leaders arrive at international summits hidden behind layers of diplomatic choreography, surrounded by aides, security teams, and military protocol that turns even…

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A decade ago someone put an entire Boeing 747 on eBay for $300,000, and when nobody bought it the seller dismantled the jet and sold its parts. So iconic was the aircraft that even its circuit breakers became luxury cufflinks

While the current Air Force One has served the US leader since 1990, the luxury 747 donated by the Qatari royal family will be the shortest-lived Air Force One in history, retiring a mere 934 days after making its first flight today to grace a swanky presidential library in Miami

While the new Air Force One being built by Boeing keeps on getting hopelessly delayed, the US leader isn’t waiting: the Qatar-gifted 747, rushed through a 10-month conversion, takes its first official flight on the 1st of July to North Dakota and very soon all the way to China.

400 technicians with high security clearance worked three shifts every day inside a top-secret facility in Texas on the luxury 747 donated by Qatar, sweeping it for bugs, installing encrypted comms and new engines, transforming it into the mighty Air Force One in a mere 10 months

The 747 donated by the kind-hearted Qatar royal family may have been officially revealed in a patriotic four-color livery. But the plush jet must pass a crucial and demanding final exam at Joint Base Andrews before it can fly the Commander in Chief

White House officials called it ‘the last ride,’ but America’s 35 year old Air Force One are far from retiring. Unlike the Qatar 747 the aging jets do not have marble bedrooms and palace interiors but they can refuel midair and are so strong they can survive an EMP

The $400 million luxury 747 donated by Qatar, already wearing bold American colors, will fly from its high-tech hangar at Joint Base Andrews to make its grand presidential debut at Mount Rushmore amid a lavish $700,000 fireworks display for America’s 250th birthday

The $400 million luxury 747 jet donated by the big-hearted Qatar royal family is finally wearing American colors in a striking red, blue, and gold livery and has flown to its secure hangar at Joint Base Andrews for final modifications to become Air Force One

The Qatar-donated plush 747 is all set to enter service on July 4 after a $400 million makeover and may serve only as a domestic Air Force One, as the aging presidential jumbos from 1990 will still fly until 2029 and carry the U.S. leader on critical overseas missions.

Because a white screen is too boring, Paris has transformed an Air France Boeing 747 into the world’s most expensive, gloriously over-the-top outdoor theater, projecting blockbusters like the The Aviator across its massive fuselage under the stars at historic Le Bourget

In spite of keeping the palatial interiors of the 747 jet donated by the Qatari royal family intact, the US authorities spent a whopping $400 million stripping the flying mansion apart, checking every inch for hidden listening devices, and rebuilding it into the new Air Force One

As if making the world leaders look poor with his new $600 million 747-8 jet with solid gold fittings, lounges, and plush bedrooms wasn’t enough, the Sultan of Brunei made them look weak by calmly piloting the world’s largest and most complex private aircraft to a summit