By Mike Stone

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will fly ‌an old Air Force One plane from ‌Turkey to the UK 'for old time's sake', with the new ​plane given to the U.S. by Qatar visiting the same base in the UK, according to a post on Truth Social.

Trump said the newly overhauled Air ‌Force One will ⁠fly to RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom so U.S. service members stationed ⁠there can tour the aircraft.

The new plane is a Boeing 747 gifted to the United States by ​Qatar last ​year and refitted by ​defense contractor L3Harris Technologies.

The ‌jumbo aircraft has been painted in a red, white, dark blue and gold livery chosen by Trump, marking a departure from the iconic design used on Air Force One for decades.

"Everybody is so ‌excited and we thought that ​they should be the first," ​Trump wrote, adding ​that the outgoing Air Force One ‌would make the trip from ​Turkey to ​Mildenhall "for old time's sake."

The Qatari jet's acceptance had drawn scrutiny. Retrofitting the luxury plane required security ​upgrades, communications ‌improvements to prevent eavesdropping, and missile defense capabilities, ​experts said.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; ​editing by Philippa Fletcher)