Saudi prince blows fortune on A380 'flying palace'

£300m + fixtures and fittings

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 14th November 2007 10:08 GMT

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A Saudi prince earlier this week ordered the first A380 "Flying Palace" - a customised airborne kingdom which will set him back up to £400m, Airbus reports.

HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, who's the chairman of Kingdom Holding company, will enjoy "more space, more comfort and a more modern design that flies non-stop to the world", the company declares.

And at that price we should think so too. The basic aircraft goes out at a modest £300m-ish, but that's before the decorators have worked their magic on the interior. Options available are jacuzzis, office space, luxury suites and even a cinema shoehorned into the cargo space - all of which could add up to a further £100m.

Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, John Leahy, said: “Prince Alwaleed’s order means that Airbus’ sales success in the corporate jet market now extends from its smallest aircraft, the A318 Elite, all the way up to its largest, the A380 Flying Palace. It also complements our strong VIP A330/A340 sales.”

Airbus has apparently now flogged more than 100 examples of its "Corporate Jetliner Family", which includes the aforementioned A318 Elite, ACJ (Airbus Corporate Jetliner) and A320 Prestige. ®

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