… while many have speculated that the Qataris have offered Trump the luxurious plane to curry favor with the famously transactional president, there may be a simpler rationale: they just don’t want it anymore.
The royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020, according to an archived cop listing. Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs, aviation experts told Forbes. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus.
Qatar, which has given away another blinged-out 747 and may have mothballed two more, epitomizes the fading demand for these huge, fuel-guzzling, highly personalised airplanes. There aren’t many who want to buy them, and many of the governments and royal families who own them have been trying to ditch them over the past decade.
“Qatar, like many modern states, is shifting toward leaner, more versatile aircraft, which offer better economics and more discreet presence for official travel,” Linus Bauer, managing director of Dubai-based Bauer Aviation Advisory, told Forbes. Giving the plane to Trump would be “a creative disposal strategy” that marks “a farewell to a bygone model of geopolitical theater in the skies.”
It is 100% filled with microphones that will never be found.
Plane will he checked inside out as the if plane if meant to be used as Air Force One. Then it must be heavily modified by the State Dept., the Air Force and Boeing.
So, no, if there are mics, then they will find them. Mics are not magical, stealth creatures and the State Dept. is not some mom and pop corner tech store.
Worth noting, this plane is about 13 years old. The two current planes that serve as Air Force One, as needed. began their role in 1990.
surely they are planes of theseus at this point
I understand the desire to believe that we are super fool proof in our ability to detect everything that can be a threat… then I remember the Great Seal Bug. Then there was the embassy in 1964. The problem is that we will find most of them and convince ourselves that we found all of them.
I would actually feel more comfortable if it was newer, that would be less time to figure it out. But opsec doesnt appear to be a skill these guys possess.
Airplane walls are not that thick.
