White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years.

The goodbye messages fuelled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to US President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar is now set to enter service.

“‘Well done, good and faithful servant. ‘The Last Ride,’” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on social media with a picture of the iconic white and blue jet after returning from the G7 summit in France.

US Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley also posted a photograph of the same plane on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.

“I was honored to be aboard Air Force One last night on its final flight,” Crowley wrote on social media.

“For nearly 40 years, it carried every President since George H.W. Bush. It wasn’t the most modern plane, but it was cozy. And every flight with President Trump was incredibly special.