KVC-XX Next-Generation Presidential Aircraft
South Korea's new presidential plane, a Boeing 747-8i aircraft, was first deployed on 12 January 2022 to serve as the presidential plane for the next five years. The aircraft’s callsign is Code One when ferrying the President of South Korea. The government is leasing the aircraft under a five-year contract worth $242.3 million. Under the terms, Korean Air is suppose to provide a backup plane of the same type. The 3.8-year-old quadjet had been almost completely out of revenue service since early March 2020, and the remaining nine B747-8s owned and operated by Korean Air were currently in storage.
It's an improved version in terms of flight range and cruise speed. The new version is about six meters longer than its predecessor being nearly 71 meters long and is nearly 20 meters in height. Internally, it's been renovated to accommodate bigger conference rooms and more amenities for the 213 crew and passengers that it can carry at any one time. With state-of-the-art technology, fuel efficiency has been improved and noise level and carbon emissions have been significantly reduced. Its low carbon emission levels make Boeing 747 a sustainable next-generation aircraft.
The previous Boeing 747-400 aircraft, completed its eleven-year missionm, stepping down from its role as Air Force One. The 19.5-year-old Boeing jet was delivered to Korean Air in 2001 and transferred to the Air Force in 2010, The aircraft completed operations of carrying South Korean presidents to overseas destinations. It flew to 156 countries with a total distance covered of more than 1.6 million kilometers.
President Moon Jae-in flew on the aircraft to more than 50 countries and for several multilateral forums including APEC, the G20 and COP26. The aircraft was known to be South Korea's first presidential plane that was designed and equipped for carrying out such tasks breaking away from the earlier custom of renovating chartered civilian aircrafts for the state leader's overseas visits. Its final offical flight was the return leg from Australia in December 2021 following President Moon's summit with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. With its retirement, the presidential plane is to be grounded at an undisclosed Air Force base in the country.
By 2022 South Korea's short-haul VIP fleet comprised a single B737-300 and four B737-700(BBJ)s. For many years, the president of the Republic of Korea had used a Boeing 737-300 aircraft. But due to its short range, it was only used in flights to Japan or China. While using long flights, the president borrowed a Boeing 747-400 from Asiana Airlines or Korean Air.
In June 2006 it was reported that the government planned to buy an advanced, presidential jetliner worth some $140 million by 2010 under its mid-term procurement plan. The aircraft acquisition project was to be made public in early 2007 with the final bidder selected by October 2007, Col. Seo Woo-deok of the ministry’s weapons procurement bureau told reporters. "The current government-owned Boeing-737 plane has problems regarding the seating capacity and flying range," Seo said. "So, we are planning to buy a new, presidential air transport that has a seating capacity of about 150 and can make a non-stop flight to Europe."
Increasing overseas trips by the president, in accordance with the country’s growing economy, was also a reason for the project. The Boeing 737, introduced in 1985, accommodated only 30 passengers. It was unable to fly out of Northeast Asian countries without refueling. For long-distance travel, the government had used chartered flights paying some $930,000 per trip. The project needed National Assembly approval before implementation. Once introduced, the presidential jet would be shared by the prime minister and National Assembly speaker when they make overseas trips.
Military sources said a Boeing 747 or 777 was expected to be chosen as South Korea’s presidential airplane. The US Air Force maintains Air Force One, a modified Boeing 747, for their president. The US presidential aircraft is referred to as a mobile bunker as it features high-tech security systems. At that time, presidential airliners were operated by many Western nations including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Canada. Japan and China also have presidential aircraft.
On 18 January 2007 South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun met with James McNerney, the visiting chairman of Boeing Co., and asked the U.S. aircraft maker to increase investment in South Korea and improve relations with Korean firms. President Roh Moo-hyun said he had pushed to buy a new presidential airplane for his successor, but the National Assembly cut the related budget. "I always used a Boeing jet for my overseas trips. I had tried to buy an exclusive presidential airplane, but failed due to opposition from the National Assembly," he said during his meeting with the Boeing chief. The Roh government asked for an initial budget of 30 billion won ($US32 million) in its presidential jet project in 2006, but the main opposition Grand National Party vetoed it.
