The Amir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to show his favor towards Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his trust towards Turkey, gifted Erdogan with an airplane. The “Boeing-747-8” VIP airplane flew out of the Sabiha Gokchen airport in Istanbul on September 12th and was added to Erdogan’s private collection of airplanes.
The airplane, which was produced in 2012, was furnished in San Antonio and returned to Qatar in 2015. Typically, an airplane that had place for 400 passengers can fit 76 passengers after being refurbished. The private staff of the airplane consists of 18 people. There is a hall for meetings, bedrooms, and a hospital on the airplane. Over the past three years, the airplane only flew 200 times, and the overall length of its flights was 436 hours.
It has been said that the airplane is worth 400 million dollars. But when Erdogan asked about the airplane, the Qatari Amir decided to give it to the Turkish president as a present.
The private staff of the aircraft has already been chosen and has gone through necessary trainings in August.
In addition, parliamentarian of the Turkish Republican People’s Party (CHP), Gazme Tascier, asked Erdogan’s Vice President Fuat Oktay to explain whether the airplane was truly bought for as much as Qatar paid for it, and whether or not the president will sell any of his other private airplanes after receiving this one.
Sputnik Turkiye