The Crazy World Of Presidential Jets And Royal Transport

[Music] when it comes to traveling in style few do it better than global leaders with the need to travel comfortably productively and safely and budgets to make this happen many leaders have some amazing aircraft let's look at some of the best active jets along with a few others that deserve a mention presidential and head of state air travel was relatively rare before the second world war the british were the first to introduce dedicated vip aircraft two planes were adopted by the royal air force for royal and government service in 1928 becoming known as the king's flight from 1936. in the u.s franklin roosevelt became the first serving president to fly heading to morocco in 1943 on a pan-american world airways crude boeing 314 the first dedicated aircraft to carry the president was a modified douglas c-54 sky master nicknamed the sacred cow roosevelt used this in 1945 to attend the yalta conference in the soviet union to discuss the post-war situation in europe today many countries have some form of dedicated transport often operated by special military units today many leaders are turning to more private vehicles because it's always safer it's always more trusted and it's more comfortable to have your own way to move around we just need to spending much of their time in the air they need as much comfort as they can get some of the most important political decisions in the in the world were made while in disguise so it's a crucial aspect to have in the modern era quite a few countries don't have such aircraft though instead using commercial options or hiring aircraft when needed some notable countries that don't operate dedicated aircraft include austria china israel new zealand norway and singapore some vip aircraft remain quite simple while others are flying offices or even palaces this video we'll take a look at just a few of the most outstanding aircraft the u.s president's transport needs no introduction without a doubt it's the most recognized and well known amongst all vip aircraft it's also one of the best equipped and most expensive a suitable start to our review the current main aircraft used are variants of the boeing 747 200 designated the vc-25a these iconic blue and white aircraft were introduced in 1990 and are officially named sam special air mission 28 000 and sam 29 000. there are plenty of features on these jets that a commercial 747 does not have it has defense countermeasures to disrupt heat seeking missiles technology to jam radar and extensive communications facilities it can also be refueled in flight as we've noted in other videos the us will soon have a new and improved air force one in fact a pair of 7478i jets are currently undergoing extensive refit interestingly they are being modified from aircraft ordered for failed russian airline transaero who never took delivery of the pair reports suggest that president trump has called for a more lavish interior and larger beds he also wanted the colour scheme changed for the first time since 1962. what do you think of this new design moving on saudi arabian prince el walid's extremely lavish boeing 747 likely takes top place for most lavish jet this was purchased in 2003 at a cost of 485 million dollars the jet has been refitted to match his palatial home and is less about offices and meeting space and more about relaxation and opulence there are luxurious bedrooms and bathrooms a large dining area extensive lounge areas and a large throne for the prince there's plenty of gold trim decoration and even a large chandelier the prince was going to acquire an even more lavish private a380 in 2007 but the financial crisis of 2008-2009 ended his hopes reported plans for the interior include a lift to the prince's private suite a haman bath area a rotating prayer space that could turn to face mecca and naturally a parking garage for a rolls royce sticking with opulence the sultan of brunei owns a whole fleet of aircraft for his travels until recently the most frequently used was an a340 200 used for long-haul travel this was delivered in 1994 and retired in 2018. inside the jet is fitted out with bedrooms showers and dining areas the family went after another a340 in 2008 this was in fact a unique a340 8000 ordered for the sultan's brother it was derived from the a340 200 but fitted with auxiliary fuel tanks to increase the range to 14 800 kilometers enough for a direct flight from grenade to the usa the order was eventually abandoned and the aircraft would go on to join the saudi arabian royal fleet the most recent additions to the sultan's fleet are a 7478i aircraft added in 2016 and 787 aircraft in 2019 these have been seen in operation but little is known about their interiors uniquely amongst leaders the sultan is also a qualified pilot he can and does fly the a340 the 747s as well as other aircraft in his fleet and occasionally even commercial flights with royal brunei airlines the russian president uses a well-equipped illusion aircraft the il-96 this jet is much newer than the united states 747s with the latest delivered in 2013. in fact there are four identical il-96 aircraft often all flying together to disguise which aircraft the president is on board much of the interior design and fittings are kept secret however we know that there are fur rugs and russian tapestries and paintings on the walls the president has a bedroom with a king-sized bed a bathroom with bidet and gold trimming and even a gym these il-96s are also set up with a full communication suite and air defense countermeasures there's also reportedly some form of escape pod if you're liking this video so far why not click subscribe and hit the like button oh and be sure to click that notification bell too german chancellor angela merkel probably has the best aircraft of any european leader a new flagship a350 900 was added to the government fleet this year to replace the previous aircraft and a340 ultimately there will be three a350s in the government fleet the first was delivered last august and the second was undergoing test flights as of november 2020. an interesting note is that these are the first a350s to be used in non-commercial service while the first aircraft was delivered with a temporary cabin to get it into service quicker the next two will be fully fitted out with office space cabins and seating before the first one was then refitted similarly the previous aircraft known as conrad adenau is certainly impressive it featured bedrooms offices and lounges it even apparently has a soundproof room presumably for those super top secret conversations of course it also had missile defenses and extensive communications features hopefully the new a350 will be more reliable than its predecessor in a well-publicized incident in 2018 merkel arrived late for a g20 summit in buenos aires after conrad adenauer developed technical problems in a significant downgrade merkel had to switch to a commercial flight with iberia the french presidential fleet primary vip transport is an a330 200 however there are also several a310s and two a340 aircraft that can also be used the a330 was introduced in 2011 converted from previous passenger use by swiss air it takes the callsign kottam 001 when in official use like many other presidential aircraft it's designed both as a transport and operational centre fitted out with full communications facilities there's a bedroom and office space for the president a large soundproof meeting area and a series of business class and economy class seating [Music] along with germany india has some of the newest presidential aircraft in october 2020 it received the first of two dedicated triple 7 300 aircraft before that 747 400s from air india were used the triple sevens previously served with air india and have been undergoing refit in the u.s since 2018 the jets will feature a range of technical improvements including a special protection suite capable of jamming enemy radar frequencies diverting heat-seeking missiles and intercepting missile systems without any crew interventions we don't hear a great deal about japan's vip transport which shares several similarities with america's air force one it uses two aircraft designed to be used by both the prime minister and the japanese imperial family and they used the call science japanese air force one and japanese air force ii the first two aircraft used were modified 747 400s ordered in 1987 and entered service in 1991 fitted out with a vip cabin at the front of the lower deck they also include ample amounts of passenger seating and office space both the rear cabin and the upper deck were fitted with close to standard seating this allowed dual use of the aircraft for overseas evacuation or troop deployment missions however the 747s were replaced by two seven three hundred aircraft in 2018. these only started service in mid-2019 and we've yet to see details of their fitting we know from japanese media that they contain private cabins and office space as well as 21 business class style seats and 85 economy seats a few other aircraft fall outside the realms of crazy or extravagant but are certainly worth a mention the uk prime minister and members of the british royal family are looked after by the royal air force's 32nd squadron the main vip aircraft is an airbus a330 known as the raf voyager so back in the 1920s it was actually the british monarch that was the first head of state to have its own private aircraft so it makes sense today that the united kingdom wants is once a similar plane to represent this country today in fact following this paint job in november it first transported prince charles to berlin so its first passenger was still royalty down the street put it perfectly what better way to represent the country around the world with a suitable and a great looking aircraft when not in use for vip travel this serves as an air refueller for the royal air force it's more subdued than other leaders transports and there are no luxurious cabins or extensive office spaces instead there is simply a series of standard cabins with 58 business class style seats and 100 economy seats the aircraft raised some controversy in 2020 when it received a new 1 million paint job taking it from standard military grey into red white and blue uk colours the north korean leader kim jong-un travels on one of two russian-built illusion il-62 aircraft these are dedicated and fitted out for vip travel but operated by air courio it takes the call sign chameleon when the leader is on board it has been in service for 39 years making it the oldest aircraft in presidential use in fact very few commercial aircraft are older than this it's far from certain how much use it has had though the kim family has rarely traveled far and previous leaders have preferred train travel to aircraft and even when it does fly the leader may not be on board going quote unquote south of the border south korea will be taking a 7478 for its presidential jet next year this will replace the current government 747 400. when flying special missions the aircraft is given the name code one historically the lease for code one has been filled by either korean air or asiana airlines this arrangement will continue as the 7478 will be leased from korean leading up to the november 2021 entry into service the 7478 will be equipped with various security and communication devices similar to what we know of the united states air force one vc25a modified 747 747-200 this presidential aircraft will also have special hardware to improve its defense against outside attacks such as missiles the mexican presidential 7878 aircraft known as jose maria morelos e pavon stands out for both its cost and controversy president enrique pena nieto introduced it to replace an ageing 757 in presidential service it was estimated to have cost around 218 million dollars certainly at the high end of presidential aircraft costs however the current president andres manuel lopez obrador sees this as lavish and wasteful apparently preferring to travel commercially since 2019 he's been trying to sell it with interest seemingly low the government has considered giving it away as a raffle prize or leasing it out by the hour possibly uniquely though amongst world leaders he simply doesn't want to use it my favorite jet has to be the air force one it always sticks out for its glamour and history it even holds even more lore today the boeing 747 is rapidly disappearing from our sky players the 747 marks an iconic error in american aviation and what better way to represent the leader of the country if you had a choice which presidential jet would you want to fly on let us know in the comments you know that we publish over 175 stories every single week on simpleflying.com be sure to check the link in the description for more great stories just like this thanks for watching and be sure to like and subscribe before you go

Channel: Long Haul by Simple Flying

Views: 338,584

Keywords: aviation, flying, flight, boeing, airbus, planes, aircraft, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 777x, a320, a321, airbus a380, a380, airports, american airlines, united airlines, delta airlines, british airways

Id: XpIyrEoBSuE

Length: 15min 13sec (913 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 15 2020