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BIZ & FINANCE SATURDAY | JUNE 20, 2026

US says goodbye to Air Force One plane as Qatari jet awaits

How sleep, light shape Qantas’ 20-hour flights

WASHINGTON: Is it goodbye Air Force One, hello Qatar Force One? White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years. The goodbye messages fuelled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar is now due to enter service. “’Well done, good and faithful servant. ‘The Last Ride,‘” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on X with a picture of the iconic white and blue jet after returning from the G7 summit in France. US chief of protocol Monica Crowley also posted a photograph of the same plane on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews near Washington. “I was honoured to be aboard Air Force One last night on its final flight,“ Crowley said on X. “For nearly 40 years, it carried every President since George H.W. Bush. It wasn’t the most modern plane, but it was cozy. And every flight with President Trump was incredibly special. “Farewell and thank you.” The aging aircraft is one of two heavily modified 747s – VC 25As in military parlance – that entered service in 1990 and are designated Air Force One when the president is aboard. The White House did not immediately respond when asked by AFP to comment. But Trump is considering taking the new Qatari jet on its inaugural flight when he travels to Mount Rushmore next month as part of celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary, NBC News reported. The US Air Force said in May that the Qatari jet had completed flight testing and would soon be ready for action,

adding that it was “on schedule to roll out in a new red, white and blue livery this summer.” On Thursday, the US Air Force confirmed to AFP that the Qatari plane, known as the VC-25B Bridge aircraft, “will soon join the active executive airlift fleet alongside the VC-25A and C-32.” The C-32, dubbed “Baby Air Force One,“ is a version of the smaller 757 used for shorter runways. Qatar’s gift of the jet, valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, has raised major ethical and constitutional issues about what kind of gifts a president should receive from abroad. It has also raised security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane. The jets that serve as Air Force One are widely reported to have sophisticated countermeasures that can jam enemy radars and infrared tracking systems, plus dispensers for chaff – metal shavings that distract radar guided missiles – and flares that blind heat-seeking missiles. But billionaire Trump has been obsessed with replacing Air Force One since his first presidential term, even keeping a model of the jet in its new color scheme on his coffee table in the Oval Office. Trump said last year that it would be “stupid” not to accept the gift, which the Pentagon formally acquired last year, and complained about the state of the current veteran planes. He has said the Qatari plane will eventually be donated to his future presidential library as an exhibit. The US government has also contracted planemaker Boeing to deliver two new 747-8 aircraft to serve as the presidential jet but the program has suffered delays and cost overruns.

TOULOUSE: Qantas Airways is betting that science can make the world’s longest flights feel less punishing – unveiling plans for a “wellness zone,“ extra legroom, specially timed meals and animated lighting on its non-stop Sydney-London services due to launch next October. The Australian carrier, which plans to follow up with non-stop flights from Sydney to New York, this week offered detailed briefings on the science of roughly 20-hour journeys as it looks to convince passengers to pay a premium for avoiding a stopover. “It’s a major biological challenge crossing all these time zones – seven to nine for London and 14 to 16 for New York,” said Peter Cistulli, professor of sleep medicine at the University of Sydney, who took part in scientific research for “Project Sunrise”. Frequent long-haul Australian travellers told Reuters their biggest priorities when deciding whether they would take the ultra-long flights included seat comfort, the ability to move around and cost. Qantas has gone beyond that, studying every detail for the flights on Airbus A350-1000ULR planes since the project was launched nearly a decade ago, from nutrition to ergonomics, movement and above all light – a vital cue for the body clock. By optimising meal times – such as avoiding food just after takeoff – and creating a “protective sleep window” with the help of lighting, passengers showed better alertness during tests o Airline introduces wellness zone, mood lighting and tailored meal schedules to reduce jet lag on Sydney-London services

at the non-stop option. “There is something wonderful about waking up in Australia and not having to get off anywhere and go through security and kill three hours, so I am all up for it,” he said. But comfort would be decisive. “I am six-foot-four (193 cm) so the economy seat is too small...I would have to ask for some more details on the seats,” Davies added. Qantas said the regular economy pitch, or distance between seats, would be 33 inches (84 cm), though some rows would be slightly tighter at 32 inches and this would be made clear when booking. Part of the cabin will be sold as “Economy Plus,” offering 34 inches of legroom. At the front of the aircraft, Qantas is the latest airline to install enclosed first class suites with a fixed bed. Melbourne-based business executive Ian Morden said he was not put off by ultra-long flights, as he likes to use the time to work and think. But he questioned how much the four-hour time savings from avoiding a stopover would justify the fares that the airline’s business case demands. “A slight premium would be justifiable but...I probably wouldn’t choose it for a 20% premium on an already much more expensive business class flight,” he said. London-based Nathalie Curtis, who travels extensively for her work in the international cultural sector, said she would take the flight if it lived up to the airline’s marketing, but expressed concerns about the deterioration of cabins on very long flights. “If it allows you to move around, reduce jet lag with lighting adjustment and is hygienic and saves ... four hours then I would go for it and pay a 20% premium,” she said. Mark Levine, an Australian strategic adviser in New York, said direct flights from Sydney would take the organisational friction out of lives spread between different continents. – Reuters

than with a traditional service, Cistulli said. Cabin designer David Caon said he had been asked to approach it as a health and scientific task as much as an aesthetic one. “When you have a passenger for essentially a whole day, it really does drive a whole set of new decisions,” he said. Caon toyed with novel ideas, including exercise bikes and yoga mats. Those did not make the cut, but a dedicated “wellness zone” remained, bathed in diffused, shimmering light. “I wanted to recreate the sense of lying by the swimming pool,” Caon told reporters. Elsewhere in the cabin, custom mood lighting will simulate sunrise or sunset, moving from front to back. It took weeks to programme 14 light “scenarios” inspired by Australia’s scenery. All of this aims to reduce the discomfort of flights that could be as long as 22 hours on such specially modified jets. But the sense of space also has a business aim: to turn Australia’s remote position into a travel experience that other airlines cannot easily match – and generate 20% more revenue. Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said the expected premium over one-stop flights was based on results seen between Perth and Europe. Most analysts say the performance of its 17 hour Perth-London flights bodes well for the Project Sunrise business case. Qantas has designed the plane in a premium-heavy configuration as it will need to squeeze all the profit out of just 238 passengers due to weight restrictions. It may have to block some seats to save fuel when weather dictates. A senior airline industry executive said other operating risks would include costly diversions, given the long routes. Sam Davies, who works in the drinks marketing industry, said he already uses the Perth flights on his way to Sydney from his home in Paris and would look

Education retains its importance in the Malaysian landscape for parents, students and stakeholders. The changes are fast paced with new developments in new fields of study such as cybersecurity, data protection, augmented and virtual reality, machine learning in education, digital education and artificial Intelligence. Leading the way are universities, who are invited to showcase their latest programmes, curriculum and content in our Education Focus for 2026.

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