a380

More Pics Of The Private Airbus A380

Filed under: Wings

Ask and you shall receive! Well, little by little at least. Last month Deidre wished for pictures of something other than the dining room of the Private Airbus A380 (as glorious as it may be) and today we have them. They might not be of the whirlpool, master bedroom suite, or the game room, but we do have a sketch of the desert-themed lounge and some very glamorous-looking photos of the grand entrance and VIP lounge.

There's five new pictures in all (if you don't count the dining room) and all I can say is wow. That, and I'm still waiting for a shot of that "glimmering desert mural" behind the curtain we keep hearing about.

[Thanks, Timothy!]

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Tags: 380, A380, airbus, jet, pics, pictures, plane, private

More Details On The First Private Airbus 380

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

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.

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Tags: a380, airbus, plane, private

Should the U.S. Foot the Bill for the A380 Airport Expansions?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

A little over 18 months ago the Airbus 380 first popped up on our radar. We were giddy with the possibilities, imagining these massive planes full of luxury and more space than we had ever dreamed possible. However more and more, the double-decker A380 is looking to be nothing but trouble. The concerns have ranged from environmental factors such as the plane's huge wake to delays in production which could make the plane harder to get. The latest wrinkle comes from a Republican lawmaker who is seeking to get Congress to ban U.S. airports from spending federal money on the upgrades necessary in order to make room for the jumbo jet. Rep. John Mica says that until a U.S. airline buys and uses an A380, foreign airlines should pick up the tab. The U.S. government is currently expected to pay for half of the changes in airports in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and San Francisco but Mica feels this is unfair to U.S. taxpayers since Europe gives governmental loans to Airbus.