The Flying Palace

Traveling in luxury these days is usually reserved for the wealthy and famous because of the high prices even for business class seating. Doctors, lawyers, and actors are mainly the people who can afford to have their own private jet and fly to wherever they please. The President of the United States is also fortunate enough to have a Boeing 747 to act as Air Force One and transport him all over the world. John Travolta is an example of a famous actor who was able to purchase a Boeing 707 and outfit it as his personal traveling home. Travolta even received the training necessary to get his type rating in a 707, which allows him to fly his entire family around in the aircraft. However, none of them compare to the most recent private purchasing of a large airliner, in this case the newly released super jumbo Airbus A380.

This past Monday, the first day of the annual Dubai Air show, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-saud, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company became the first person in history to purchase the largest commercial airliner ever built. Airbus is refitting the A380 according to the Prince’s specifications to make the largest VVIP aircraft ever to take the skies. Al-saud is already the current owner of a Boeing 747-400 and is ranked 13^th on Forbes Magazine’s list of global millionaires.

A normally configured A380 reportedly sells for over $300 million but it has not been released on how much the luxury superjumbo will cost for buyers. The aircraft is has about 2,000 feet of usable floor space that can be used for bars, casinos, bedrooms, showers, and even a pool and gym. It is estimated that the special edition plane will be best suitable for 15 passengers as well as the separate areas for staff and crew.

Airbus success for their corporate jet market has gone full circle starting with their smallest A318 Elite to the A380 Flying Palace. This new deal is also placing further stress on Boeing in situations where the wealthy want to upgrade to the biggest and advanced form of air travel. Airbus won’t likely have the specialty plane ready until 2013, especially with their recent history of delivering far beyond their due dates. Most will agree that the time waiting will be well worth it, when with the right amount of money the sky’s the limit.