’The last ride’: Trump takes final flight on old Air Force One

rediff - "I was honoured to be aboard Air Force One last night on its final flight," Monica Crowley, the US chief of protocol, said on X.

"For nearly 40 years, it carried every president since George H W Bush. It wasn't the most modern plane, but it was cosy. And every flight with President Trump was incredibly special. Farewell and thank you, SAM 2900. You served all of us well," Crowley said on June 18.

Trump returned from the visit to France in the small hours of June 18. "'Well done, good and faithful servant. 'The Last Ride'," Trump's communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on X with a picture of the iconic white and blue jet on the tarmac.

The White House has not commented on the transition, but the US Air Force announced last month that the Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar to Trump had completed modification and flight testing.

NBC News reported that Trump was considering taking the inaugural flight of the Qatari jet when he travels to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota next month as part of celebrations for America's 250th anniversary.

The Qatari Boeing 747 has been painted with a new colour scheme, sporting a red, white and blue design, departing from the current "Jackie Kennedy" design featuring robin's egg blue and white.

In May, Pentagon officials told lawmakers that the total cost to overhaul the Qatari plane had not exceeded USD 400 million.

The Qatari jet will serve as a bridge aircraft until the two other 747s ordered by the US Air Force at a cost of USD 5.6 billion are inducted into service.

Air Force One is the designation given to any plane carrying the US president, so several aircraft can become available to do so, according to a US official. The US air force will refer to the Qatari plane as VC-25B.