Inside the New Air Force One: ‘Code One’ Presidential Plane Features

“Our Air Force One is taking off from Seoul Airport…”

This announcement is the in-flight broadcast made by the pilot just before ‘Code One’ (the call sign for the plane carrying the president from the airport control tower) takes off from Seoul Airport, carrying the president on his overseas tour.

If you look up the Korean dictionary, a private jet is defined as ‘an airplane used only by a specific person.’ Therefore, the presidential plane is an airplane used for official and unofficial personnel centered around the president for overseas tours and official duties.

Our government officially operates four private jets. They are officially called ‘Air Force No. X’. In other words, No. 1 is called ‘Air Force One’, and the Boeing 747-400 model that had been used until now was retired in early 2022 and a new No. 1 Boeing ‘747-8i’ was introduced. The Boeing 737-300 model, which is currently being replaced, is ‘No. 2’. ‘No. 3’ and ‘No. 5’ are using the VCN-235 model. The military is reluctant to use the number ‘4’, so the private jet does not use the title ‘No. 4’.

Air Force One is currently rented from the airline Korean Air. Therefore, strictly speaking, it can be said that it is not a government private jet. In response to the criticism that the Boeing 747-400 model, which was introduced in the form of a long-term lease, is old and not suitable to be used as a private jet. The government signed a new lease agreement with Korean Air in May 2020. The contract period is from 2021 to 2026, and the contract amount is a total of 300.29 billion won ($254 million) for five years.

U.S. also plans to use ‘747-8i’ as a private jet after modification

The new private jet, the latest model among the Boeing 747 series, is 231.9ft long, 18.3ft longer than the previous No. 1. The interior area has also expanded by a total of 312.15 square feet. The cruising speed and maximum operating range have increased with the installation of a new engine (thrust 25.5t→30t). It boasts the fastest cruising speed of Mach 0.86 among existing large aircraft. It can fly up to 9,204 miles in a maximum of 14 hours. Also, it can fly 1,482 miles more than the existing private jet 747-400. It can fly anywhere in the world without landing in the middle or refueling.

The convenience has also improved through the modification of the aircraft interior. The noise has been reduced by half compared to the previous model by reinforcing the soundproofing materials in the president’s private room and meeting room, and the seats for the personnel have been improved. The total number of seats is 213 (2 private seats, 42 business, 169 economy), one more than before. Modifications to security and communication equipment have also been made. The weight of the aircraft was significantly reduced by using new aluminum alloys and composite materials for 70% of the aircraft’s weight. This, coupled with improvements in aircraft performance and engine performance, has improved fuel consumption per seat by 16% compared to the 747-400 aircraft, and carbon dioxide gas emissions have been reduced by more than 16%.

It is particularly known that the U.S. also plans to use the 747-8i as a presidential plane after modification.

The management and operation of the presidential plane are entrusted to the Air Force. Therefore, the crew of Korean Air and the crew of the Air Force provide services together on the presidential plane. This is a unique feature of the presidential plane. The pilots are also deployed from both the Air Force and Korean Air.

The titles ‘No. 1’, ‘No. 2’, ‘No. 3’, etc. are just numbers managed by the Air Force. The aircraft or helicopter that the president boards is immediately called ‘Code One’. Even if the president boards Air Force No. 2 or No. 3, or boards a civilian aircraft or another Air Force aircraft due to unavoidable circumstances, the aircraft boarded by the president is called ‘Code One’.

The interior of the presidential plane is equipped with all facilities to enable the operation of the national government even during overseas travel. It is equipped with a missile defense warning and defense system for the president’s safety, a national command communication network that can be directly connected to the military and satellites, and a satellite communication network. There is a personal living space for the president and an office space where meetings can be held with the staff. There is also a separate space for cabinet members and presidential secretaries who accompany the president. The seats used by the president or senior government officials and the delegation are separated from the press seats.

The President, ministers, and secretaries in charge use a separate space. The seats used by the President and the executive officials are separated and blocked from the press area. While in previous administrations, spaces used by the President and high-ranking officials were sometimes disclosed, there have been no such cases since the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in government. In the confined space, it is challenging for the press to interact with the President or high-ranking officials.

The seats are divided into business and economy classes like a regular airplane. Presidential secretaries use business class, and administrative officials below the secretary level and the press corps use general economy class. Therefore, the competition for seats is fierce. Reporters usually use about 80 seats. They include photographers, broadcast footage, and pen (newspaper reporters). Pen reporters are usually composed of about 40 people. In overseas tours with a lot of interest, such as the Korea-U.S. summit, some reporters who cannot board the presidential plane also participate in the tour using civilian aircraft.

The in-flight meal menu is provided at business class level. However, unlike civilian aircraft, they use one tray. The press corps does not use the presidential plane for free. The media companies pay a considerable amount of tour costs. In the case of tours to nearby regions where the use of private jets is frequent, such as Central Asia, reporters pay more than 7 million won ($5,900) per person just for airfare, and if they visit many countries on long-distance flights such as the UK and the US, they pay more than 10 million won ($8,500).

The Hundred’s Ethnicity: Red and Blue Horizontal Lines on a White Background

The boarding cost is paid by the individual media company the reporter belongs to. Since the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the custom of the government providing some subsidies to media companies has disappeared. Previously, it was a method of providing some of the tour costs from the Blue House’s special activity fund.

The interior modification of the new Air Force One was handled by the Ministry of National Defense, the Blue House Security Service, and Korean Air.

The inside of the private jet has the president’s office, bedroom, rest facilities, meeting room, etc. in the front of the first floor, and the space for unofficial attendees and reporters is set up in the back. The second floor is a space for official attendees such as ministers and Blue House senior secretaries.

For the general cabin, it’s reported that the spacing between seats for Blue House staff and entering journalists has been widened by about 7.6cm compared to regular seats. Additionally, new spaces, including a podium for speeches and press conferences, have been added. On the second floor, no separate modifications were made, and ministers and other internal and external officials will continue to use it as before. The dedicated seats have decreased to around 210 seats, a reduction of about 30-40 seats based on special aircraft standards. The original seating capacity of the Boeing 747-400 is 416 seats.

Unlike the U.S. ‘Air Force One,’ the ‘Code One’ was not specially manufactured as a dedicated aircraft. It is a modified form of a regular aircraft, not reaching the capabilities of Air Force One, but it is equipped with various special features and security equipment, including advanced communication networks. The exterior is adorned with white background and red and blue horizontal lines symbolizing the hundred ethnicities. Notably, “KOREA” is written on top of the lines.

Unlike the first plane, which is leased, the second Air Force plane is a dedicated government-owned aircraft. The current government-operated Air Force No. 2 is a Boeing 737-300 model. It was introduced during the Chun Doo-hwan administration in 1985, but after nearly 40 years, the need for replacement has become apparent. The Yoon Suk-yeol government is pushing for the replacement of ‘Air Force No. 2’. Although it has a range of over 2547 miles, it is primarily used for short-distance flights due to its aging model. The standard seating capacity of the Boeing 737-300 model is over 140 passengers, but after modification into a dedicated plane, it can only accommodate around 40 passengers, including the President and officials.

Air Force No. 2 has been mainly used for short-distance flights in the Asia-Pacific region. While it may lag behind the first plane, it has had significant moments in history. It was deployed for the historic inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in 2000, during Kim Dae-jung’s presidency. In 2018, during Moon Jae-in’s administration, the special envoy to North Korea used Air Force No. 2 to travel to Pyongyang. In the same year, in September, it carried President Moon Jae-in, special envoys, and a press delegation to fly over Mount Baekdu from Pyongyang.

Looking back at the history of presidential planes, President Lee Seung-man through Park Chung-hee used the ‘C-47 Dakota’ transport plane as the first dedicated plane. It was briefly used during the Korean War, known for its appearance in classic war movies, capable of transporting 27 troops, and often used by airborne units. The second dedicated plane was the ‘L-26 Aero-Commander.’

Presidential Aircraft, 30 Years Leasing the B747 Model

The 4th President, Yoon Bo-sun, had a short tenure, so there is no record of a dedicated presidential aircraft during his term. However, during the era of Park Chung-hee, who served as the chairman of the National Reconstruction Supreme Council, the utilization of a dedicated presidential aircraft began to be documented when he used a chartered aircraft from Northwest Airlines, Constellation, for his visit to the United States. Since then, the practice of actively using presidential aircraft has become more established.

In 1964, the first dedicated presidential aircraft was introduced—a Douglas VC-54 transport aircraft, known for its cruise speed of 310 km/h and a range of 6,400 km. This aircraft was favored not only by President Park but was also used as the presidential aircraft for the U.S. President Harry S. Truman and the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II. In 1970, a new dedicated aircraft, VC-119, was introduced under military aid, a modified version of the DC-6 passenger aircraft. Despite later attempts to replace it with the HS-748 from Hawker Siddeley in the UK, the preference for the VC-54 persisted.

During the tenure of Presidents Choi Kyu-ha (10th), Chun Doo-hwan (11th–12th), and Roh Tae-woo (13th), the government directly operated a dedicated 2nd Air Force Boeing 737-300, primarily used for visits to Asian countries. Subsequently, medium-range visit aircraft such as the DC-10 and A-300 were introduced. However, starting from the 14th President Kim Young-sam’s term, the Boeing 747-400 was adopted for overseas visits, and this tradition continued through subsequent administrations, including Presidents Kim Dae-jung (15th), Roh Moo-hyun (16th), Lee Myung-bak (17th), Park Geun-hye (18th), and Moon Jae-in (19th). Despite attempts during the terms of Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Myung-bak to purchase a dedicated aircraft, leasing remained the preferred option due to lower costs, a practice that continues under the current administration of President Yoon Seok-yeol.

By. Hyun Ho Lee