Qatar 747-8 enters service as Air Force One

The Boeing 747-8 that Qatar gave to the United States flew its first presidential mission on 1 July 2026, carrying the president to North Dakota. It is the first time an American president has flown aboard an aircraft the government did not buy.

The aircraft was unveiled at Joint Base Andrews on 19 June 2026 after roughly ten months of conversion work by L3Harris in Texas. It carries the designation VC-25B Bridge — “Bridge” because it is meant to fill the gap until Boeing delivers the two purpose-built VC-25B aircraft it has been converting since 2018, now expected around mid-2028.

Most visibly, it wears a new livery: white over a red cheatline with a gold pinstripe and a dark blue underside, replacing the pale blue and white scheme that Raymond Loewy designed for John F. Kennedy in 1962 and which presidential aircraft have carried ever since.

The airframe started life as a Boeing Business Jet delivered to the Qatar Amiri Flight in 2012 and used by the Qatari ruling family, before being withdrawn from service in 2023. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally accepted it on behalf of the US government on 21 May 2025. Its value was widely reported at around $400 million.

Three things about it remain contested. The cost of the conversion has not been published — the Air Force said less than $400 million, while reporting has put the allocated figure near $934 million and some estimates run to $1 billion; the contract is classified. Its defensive systems are not thought to match those of the VC-25A, and a former Air Force Secretary estimated that reaching that standard would normally take three to four years. And the legality of accepting an aircraft from a foreign government was disputed under the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, with the administration arguing that the gift went to the government rather than to the president personally.

There is a quieter point buried in all of this. Production of the 747 ended in January 2023, so no new presidential 747 can be built. Every future one — this aircraft and Boeing’s pair alike — has to come from an airframe that already exists.

Full details, sources and specifications are on the VC-25B Bridge reference page.