Doha’s plan to gift a Boeing 747-8I Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) to the USA for use as a presidential transport is still under review, as the Trump administration lists big aerospace defence deals in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with CNN, Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Abdulrahman Al-Thani, expressed dismay at the controversy the proposed 747-8I BBJ gift has stirred up in the USA.
“This is a very simple government to government dealing,” says Al-Thani.
“The ministry of defence and department of defense are still exchanging the possibility of transferring one of our 747-8s to be used as Air Force One. And it’s still under legal review. I don’t know why it became so big as news.”
He denied that the gift of the aircraft, equipped for VVIP carriage, is intended to buy favour with the Trump administration. He adds that Doha has been a steadfast ally of Washington, DC, providing support during the “war on terror” of the 2000s and 2010s, and supporting 80% of the USA’s 2021 Afghanistan evacuation flights.
Trump has expressed impatience with delays affecting two VC-25Bs, which Boeing has struggled to convert from baseline 747-8Is. For now, the US president relies on a pair of ageing VC-25As that entered service in 1990. The VC-25A is based on the 747-200.
Cirium, an aviation analytics company, indicates that the Qatar Amari Flight operates a pair of 747-8I BBJs that entered service in 2016 and 2020. One aircraft, A7-HHF, is listed as having 50 seats, the second, A7-HHE, is listed as having 68.
Qatar’s potential gift has raised serious ethical concerns across the US political spectrum, with some politicians claiming it represents a bribe, and demonstrates Trump’s malleability to foreign autocrats. And while luxurious, the aircraft would represent potential security concerns, particularly the fear that it may contain embedded surveillance equipment.
Trump, for his part, feels that US taxpayers are getting a good deal on a temporary Air Force One: “Only a fool would not accept this.”
The CNN interview coincided with the issue of fact sheets from the White House that list a range of business transactions concluded in Qatar and Saudi Arabia during Trump’s visit to the region this week.
Along with other agreements, including a massive Boeing order from Qatar Airways, a Qatar fact sheet states that Doha signed a $2 billion agreement to obtain General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9B unmanned air vehicles, as well as a $1 billion agreement with Raytheon for an advanced anti-drone system.
The Qatar fact sheet made no mention of the controversial 747-8I.
A separate Saudi Arabia fact sheet stated that Riyadh signed defence sales worth “nearly $142 billion”, though it provided few details.
The Saudi sales include “air force advancement and space capabilities”, as well as sales related to missile defence, maritime security, border security, and improved communications and information systems.
