The Turkish president Erdogan has received a very special gift from the royal   
   family of Qatar: a luxury Boeing 747-8I. The private device, which was   
   recently for sale, landed in Istanbul on Tuesday night.   
       
   According to Turkish media, Qatar would have given the Boeing as a gift out of   
   love for Erdogan and to emphasize the warm ties between the two countries.   
   Turkey and Qatar have known for a long time that they are good allies.   
       
   The Turkish opposition criticizes the new government plane: now that the   
   national economy is not performing all that well there should be cutbacks,   
   flying around with such luxury 747 would be inappropriate. There is also doubt   
   whether it really is a gift and not just a purchase.   
       
   Erdogan already has an Airbus A340-500, an A330 and an A318, among others.   
   With this last aircraft he landed first at the new Istanbul Airport at the   
   beginning of this summer.   
       
   The Boeing 747-8, with registration VQ-BSK, rolled off the belt at Boeing in   
   2012 and was then fitted with a VVIP interior. In 2015, the plane was handed   
   over to Qatar. On board there are facilities such as a large bedroom with king   
   size bed, a sitting room, a meeting room and a bathroom.   
       
   Normally, a Boeing 747-8i offers scheduled flights to around 450 passengers,   
   but the royal family from Qatar wanted to be more spacious. In addition to 76   
   seats for VIPs, there is room for eighteen employees.   
       
   On a side-note Qatar royals do more strange things. At times you can see an   
   Airbus A340 at the Missoula MT KMSO airport. It looks like a general Qatar   
   Airways passenger liner, but the inside is 100% VIP. It visits whenever the   
   emir or one of its male relatives want to visit a luxury "chicken ranch" in   
   the mountains. First they clear customs and immigration in a west-coast   
   mainport and then continue. Private helicopter or small plane then pick them   
   up.   
       
   For the uninitiated, a "chicken ranch" is another word for "luxury brothel".   
       
    \%/@rd   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.99 SR33   
    * Origin: AVIATION HQ (2:292/854)