ah. THAT's where the oil money goes...

Attention hip hop stars and billionaires: the world's biggest airliner, the
73-metre-long (239-feet) Airbus A380 superjumbo, has been ordered by a
mysterious buyer for use as a private jet.
The order sets new heights in the private plane sector, leaving the Learjet,
which used to be the ultimate symbol of ostentatious air travel, in second
class.

The doubledecker A380, which enters service later this year, is capable of
carrying 840 passengers, has 900 square metres (10,000 square feet) of cabin
space and towers over its biggest rival, the Boeing 747.

Airbus sales director John Leahy declined to say when or to where the jet
would be delivered, but fitting the plane to the specification demanded from
the buyer is expected to take more than a year.

"It will be for personal use for him and his entourage," Leahy told AFP on
the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.

"I can't tell you who it is but he's not from Europe or the United States."

The buyer is likely to have paid over 300 million dollars (224 million
euros) for the standard plane, according to the latest Airbus catalogue
prices, but will then have customisation costs estimated at 50-150 million
dollars.

Aage Duenhaupt, communications director for Lufthansa Technik, which
converts large commercial aircraft into private jets, said most clients for
private airliners came from the oil-rich Middle East.

"Buyers are rich individuals or governments and mostly situated in the
Middle East," he told AFP.

In article ,
"Gatt" wrote:

Attention hip hop stars and billionaires: the world's biggest airliner, the
73-metre-long (239-feet) Airbus A380 superjumbo, has been ordered by a
mysterious buyer for use as a private jet.
The order sets new heights in the private plane sector, leaving the Learjet,
which used to be the ultimate symbol of ostentatious air travel, in second
class.

Is this a second private A380 purchase, or just a public announcement of
the order that was place last winter?

"Gatt" wrote in
:


Attention hip hop stars and billionaires: the world's biggest
airliner, the 73-metre-long (239-feet) Airbus A380 superjumbo, has
been ordered by a mysterious buyer for use as a private jet.
The order sets new heights in the private plane sector, leaving the
Learjet, which used to be the ultimate symbol of ostentatious air
travel, in second class.





LearJet was surpassed as the ultimate symbol of ostentations air
travel many, many years ago. Hugh Hefner had his "Big Bunny" DC9 in the
1970's. Even the 737 based BBJ and A320 equivalents have been surpassed.
The co-founders of Google have their private 767, at least one order for
the 787 has been from a private buyer, and there is John Travolta's 707. I
don't know if there are any private 747s, but it wouldn't surprise me if
there were. For ultimate cool in personal air travel, there are the
various MIGs and the ex-Blue Angel F/A 18 which was sold on eBay (assembly
not included). I've always wondered if the buyer of the F/A 18 also bought
the aircraft carrier which was listed on eBay at that time.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)

Marty Shapiro wrote in
:

"Gatt" wrote in
:


Attention hip hop stars and billionaires: the world's biggest
airliner, the 73-metre-long (239-feet) Airbus A380 superjumbo, has
been ordered by a mysterious buyer for use as a private jet.
The order sets new heights in the private plane sector, leaving the
Learjet, which used to be the ultimate symbol of ostentatious air
travel, in second class.





LearJet was surpassed as the ultimate symbol of ostentations
air
travel many, many years ago. Hugh Hefner had his "Big Bunny" DC9 in
the 1970's. Even the 737 based BBJ and A320 equivalents have been
surpassed. The co-founders of Google have their private 767, at least
one order for the 787 has been from a private buyer, and there is John
Travolta's 707. I don't know if there are any private 747s, but it
wouldn't surprise me if there were.


There are several around, in fact.
One, (the Aga Khan's) is simply beyond belief. the flight deck switches
were gold plated.

Not to mention a few A 340s...Saw one parked up in Madrid a couple of
years ago. It belonged to a middle eastern royal in exile...

There's also a 727 with Winglets floating around. Word is the owner was
green with envy at his neighbor's snazzy new G5 and wanted those fins on
his own ship. I think the mods probably cost as much as the airplane.



Bertie

On Jun 19, 8:30 pm, "Gatt" wrote:
Attention hip hop stars and billionaires: the world's biggest airliner, the
73-metre-long (239-feet) Airbus A380 superjumbo, has been ordered by a
mysterious buyer for use as a private jet.
The order sets new heights in the private plane sector, leaving the Learjet,
which used to be the ultimate symbol of ostentatious air travel, in second
class.

The doubledecker A380, which enters service later this year, is capable of
carrying 840 passengers, has 900 square metres (10,000 square feet) of cabin
space and towers over its biggest rival, the Boeing 747.

Airbus sales director John Leahy declined to say when or to where the jet
would be delivered, but fitting the plane to the specification demanded from
the buyer is expected to take more than a year.

"It will be for personal use for him and his entourage," Leahy told AFP on
the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.

"I can't tell you who it is but he's not from Europe or the United States."

The buyer is likely to have paid over 300 million dollars (224 million
euros) for the standard plane, according to the latest Airbus catalogue
prices, but will then have customisation costs estimated at 50-150 million
dollars.

Aage Duenhaupt, communications director for Lufthansa Technik, which
converts large commercial aircraft into private jets, said most clients for
private airliners came from the oil-rich Middle East.

"Buyers are rich individuals or governments and mostly situated in the
Middle East," he told AFP.

I doubt he'll be able to land it at all the places he wants to go
(doesnt this airplane need a pretty substantial airport?) which kinda
defeats part of the purpose of having a private jet.

xyzzy wrote:

I doubt he'll be able to land it at all the places he wants to go
(doesnt this airplane need a pretty substantial airport?) which kinda
defeats part of the purpose of having a private jet.

Agreed that there will be a very limited number of airports that could
handle the A380, but I disagree with the last part of your statement. The
purpose of having an A380 as a private jet is to have a bigger private jet
than the other multi-billionaires. I believe that goal will be accomplished.


John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via AviationKB.com
http://www.aviationkb.com/Uwe/Forums...ation/200706/1

On Jun 20, 3:07 pm, "JGalban via AviationKB.com" u32749@uwe wrote:
xyzzy wrote:

I doubt he'll be able to land it at all the places he wants to go
(doesnt this airplane need a pretty substantial airport?) which kinda
defeats part of the purpose of having a private jet.

Agreed that there will be a very limited number of airports that could
handle the A380, but I disagree with the last part of your statement. The
purpose of having an A380 as a private jet is to have a bigger private jet
than the other multi-billionaires. I believe that goal will be accomplished.



When you put it that way, you're right. I guess I made the mistake of
thinking about a private jet like a pilot would, rather than a status
conscious poseur

xyzzy wrote:
On Jun 20, 3:07 pm, "JGalban via AviationKB.com" u32749@uwe wrote:
xyzzy wrote:

I doubt he'll be able to land it at all the places he wants to go
(doesnt this airplane need a pretty substantial airport?) which kinda
defeats part of the purpose of having a private jet.

Agreed that there will be a very limited number of airports that could
handle the A380, but I disagree with the last part of your statement. The
purpose of having an A380 as a private jet is to have a bigger private jet
than the other multi-billionaires. I believe that goal will be accomplished.

When you put it that way, you're right. I guess I made the mistake of
thinking about a private jet like a pilot would, rather than a status
conscious poseur

It's a gender thing....Boys and their toys...