The United States Air Force expects to take delivery of a VIP-configured B747-8(BBJ) that Qatar is donating to the US government in the next several months, no later than summer 2026, according to Bloomberg.
In a statement provided to the news agency, the Air Force said it “remains committed to expediting delivery of the VC-25 bridge aircraft in support of the presidential airlift mission, with an anticipated delivery no later than summer 2026.”
The statement was released the day after one of the two Air Force Ones (B747-200(VC-25A)), which was carrying president Donald Trump to the World Economic Forum in Davos, returned to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland due to “a minor electrical issue.”
The US Air Force took delivery earlier in January of the first of two B747-8s it acquired from Lufthansa. These two aircraft will be used to establish a training and sustainment programme for the presidential fleet, as it prepares to transition and introduce two new modified B747-8(VC-25B)s in mid-2028, retiring the two ageing VC-25As introduced into active service in August 1990.
The Qatari-donated VIP B747 has been registered in the United States as N7478D (msn 37075). It is being retrofitted by L3Harris Technologies.
