The £300m flying palace

Imagine the perfect flying experience - no queues, a reclining seat, perhaps a glass of chilled champagne.

Add four-poster beds, a Turkish bath for four and somewhere to put the Rolls-Royce - not to mention a boardroom with holographic screens and a concert hall.

Then you've got a £300million flying palace - a superjumbo designed to order for a Middle Eastern prince.

When complete in three years time, the converted Airbus A380 will be the world's largest private jet.

Its fabulously wealthy owner is unknown, but names linked to the plane include Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, owner of the Savoy Hotel. It is being designed to order by the Worcestershire-based firm Design Q.

In a space normally given to 600 passengers, the owner and his guests will enjoy five-star treatment from the moment of arrival.

After driving up to his plane, he will have the car parked in the onboard garage.

A lift drops to the tarmac and a red carpet unfurls, with downlights to 'give the impression of turning up at the Oscars', according to Design Q's co-founder Gary Doy. The belly of the A380 has been turned into a relaxation zone, including a Turkish bath lined with marble only two millimetres thick to keep the weight down.

Next door is a wellbeing room, with the floor and walls turned into a giant screen showing the ground down below. Guests can stand on a 'magic carpet' and watch the journey, a scented breeze blowing into the room.

If work really is unavoidable, the boardroom is on hand with iTouch screens and live share prices projected on to the tables. For conference calls, a business partner on the ground can be virtually projected on to the table to 'join' a meeting.

The five suites which form the owner's private quarters have king- size beds, entertainment systems and a prayer room featuring computergenerated prayer mats which always face Mecca. A lift shuttles between the plane's three floors, from the private quarters upstairs, down to the concert hall, featuring a baby grand piano and seating for ten, and to the garage below.

There are around 20 'sleepers' - the equivalent of First Class seats - for extra guests. According to the designers, the style is elegant curves and swirls of Arabic writing.

Mr Doy added: 'It is something very, very special and there is nothing like it on the market yet.
'There is everything a billionaire could want.
'We are not trying to put a hotel in the air, it is tailored to the needs of flying, and has unique features which fit into that. The Turkish bath is particularly spectacular, a steam room with marble, low lights and lots of spa treatments to choose from.'

More Details On The First Private Airbus 380
by Deidre Woollard Feb 20th 2007 at 7:04PM

Ever since I heard about the Airbus 380, the massive double-decker jumbo jet, I knew that some billionaire with a need to roam in luxury would buy one and turn it into a private jet. Now the Wall Street Journal has a story on the first private A380, a project we first heard about way back in 2005. The $300 million plane will be going to an unnamed Middle Eastern head of state who will be spending at least additional $100 million on the interior. Jet interior designer (now there's a gig to have) will be creating The Flying Palace, a plane with two dining areas, a 600-plus-square-foot master bedroom , game room and an Arabian desert-themed lounge with curtains that resemble tents and a fiber-optic mosaic of a shifting desert scene. What is most intriguing is Doret's plan to create a whirlpool tub on the plane. The tub is designed in such a way that it can rapidly drain into the cargo hold if necessary.

The Airbus A380 has been dogged by manufacturing delays and other problems and it was only this month that the press finally got to take a short flight on the plane. There are also major questions about where A380 owners will be able to land the behemoth. Most runways are too small for the plane and airports have been slow to create the expanded landing spots needed. It sounds like the owner of the A380 may be able to sympathize with Larry Ellison, the owner of the Rising Sun megayacht, it's a shame to have the most fabulous creation in the world and have nowhere to park it.

November 16, 2007 It’s designed to carry up to 800 passengers, but HRH Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal has his eye on one of his very own. Airbus has confirmed that the Saudi Prince has placed the first private order for the $300 million Airbus A380 superjumbo.

Bringing a whole new meaning to the notion of private aviation, the massive A380 VIP “Flying Palace” will be fitted out to become the world’s largest private jet and will replace the Prince’s current ride – a Boeing 747-400.
The announcement came in the wake if the Dubai Airshow with Airbus reporting record orders including 11 additional aircraft for Emirates.
Airbus delivered the first ever A380 to Singapore Airlines on 15 October and at the time of print, the Airbus site showed a total of 165 orders for the A380.