dailynewsnblog
US President Donald Trump’s private Boeing 757-200 — widely known as Trump Force One — has become the first aircraft to land at the newly renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport (DJT) in West Palm Beach, Florida. The jet touched down at 5:01 AM local time on Thursday, just hours after the Federal Aviation Administration changed the airport’s code from PBI to DJT.
Formerly known as Palm Beach International Airport, it has become the first major commercial airport to be named after a sitting US president. Interestingly, however, although its official name and FAA designation changed overnight, passengers will continue to see the PBI code on tickets and baggage tags until mid-August.
Official: Palm Beach Airport Renamed To Trump International
West Palm Beach’s airport is now officially known as President Donald J. Trump International Airport (DJT), and its first visitor was the private Boeing 757 owned by the airport’s new namesake. Per a social media post by Eric Trump, the president’s private jet touched down at DJT at 5:01 AM on Thursday, becoming the newly named airport’s first flight movement. The airport has long served as the home base for the president’s 757 (N757AF), and is located just 15 minutes from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach.
While Trump does not fly on Trump Force One while he is the sitting president, the aircraft is still active and available for his family, friends, and aides. His son Eric is Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, the company that owns the 757 through its subsidiary DJT Operations I LLC. President Trump was not present on the flight this morning, which was instead occupied by his sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., as well as daughter-in-law Bettina Trump. Eric told The Palm Beach Post:
“There’s probably no plane in the world that’s more fitting for this airport now, obviously, President Donald J. Trump International Airport.”
Passenger Tickets Will Still Say PBI, For Now
While the FAA and ICAO identifiers changed overnight, the airport’s IATA code (the three-letter code travelers see on boarding passes and booking platforms) won’t transition from PBI to DJT until August 18. As it stands, the DJT identifier is for pilots, air traffic controllers, and flight-planning systems.
This means passengers searching for tickets are still going to see the PBI code on their bookings and baggage tags for the next 5–6 weeks. The move to change PBI’s code to DJT attracted controversy, as location codes are rarely altered given their deep integration in global booking and air traffic systems.
The physical infrastructure and signage around the airport have also been changed to adopt the new name. This includes a new “Welcome to President Donald J. Trump International Airport” sign at the terminal approach, while the Florida Department of Transportation has been busy updating highway signage.
About Trump’s Boeing 757
While he is president, Trump flies on board Air Force One due to the need for enhanced security measures. Before his presidency and during the Biden administration in 2021-2025, Trump flew on Trump Force One. Built in 1991, the 757-200 was acquired by the Trump Organization in 2011, having previously flown with Danish carrier Sterling Airlines, Mexico’s TAESA, and privately for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
He will now be making many of his official journeys on the ‘Bridge’ VC-25B, a Boeing 747-8 gifted from Qatar and refurbished for presidential duties over a record ten-month period. This will serve as Air Force One until Boeing’s much-delayed VC-25B replacements are delivered.
However, the Bridge VC-25B lacks many of the advanced defense systems found on the VC-25A Air Force One. While Trump flew on board the Bridge VC-25B during a recent trip to Turkey, he then switched to one of the older VC-25As, claiming to have done so “for old time’s sake.”
