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It is the ultimate billionaire's play-thing, a £300 million extravagance to give even the biggest mega-yacht an inferiority complex.
The world's largest private jet, designed by a British firm, will include a Turkish bath, ground-to-air holographic projector and concert hall.
The Evening Standard was given the first glimpse of how the Airbus 380 "superjumbo" will look when it is delivered to its Middle East owner in about three years' time. Names linked to the plane include Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, owner of the Savoy Hotel.
Specialists at Design Q were ordered to create a bespoke "flying palace".Unlike the tedious queuing and walking experienced by most passengers, the owner will drive to his plane in his Bentley or Rolls-Royce and have it parked in an onboard garage. A lift will drop to the tarmac and a red carpet unfurl.
Downlights will give the impression of "turning up at the Oscars", said Design Q's co-founder and director Gary Doy.
Click on the image below for a larger version
The belly of the A380 has been turned into a relaxation zone. The Turkish bath will be lined with marble only two millimetres thick to reduce weight.
Next to it is a "well-being" room with screens as its floor, walls and ceiling that can show thousands of images. A "flying carpet" impression can be created by turning the floor into a live image of the ground below. Different smells, sounds and temperatures can be experienced, with a "breeze" infused with, for example, the scent of the sea.
In the boardroom, a perspex table acts as a touch screen so images or data such as live share prices can be downloaded and displayed on the sides of the plane. Holograms can be projected into the middle of the table so someone on the ground can "join" a meeting, and conferences in the plane can be transmitted for broadcast on the ground.
The interior will be decorated with elegant curves and twirls of Arabic writing, with no "gold-plated tap" vulgarity. Kurosh Tehranchian, boss of British-based jet charter firm Ocean Sky, said the next trend could be "supersonic" private jets: one capable of twice the speed of sound is being designed.
Reader views (6)
Glad the recession has not reached the Middle East.
I prefer the old DC3,noisy,slow and uncomfortable,but that was realy flying.
- David Nigel Braham, Milan Italy, 05/06/2009 09:22
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Who are the genius physicists involved in this project? Sounds just a wee bit on the absurdly heavy side to me....but then again, since it most likely will be owned by an oil-rich Sheikh or Prince....maybe that won't be a problem. Ain't no riche like the nouveau riche.
- Olivia, NYC, NY, USA, 04/06/2009 17:42
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To Ged from Blackheath, London. I agree with your point but you should know that the prince in question did not make his money from oil but made it from investments.
- Nicholas, London, UK, 04/06/2009 15:47
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Don't carp, some people are lucky in life. This is awesome. It's great we have the expertise to design, source, project manage and integrate something like this (maybe even build, though I know much of the equipment will be imported). The technology will filter down to the rest of us in the next 10-20 years - it'll be standard stuff for our children and grandchildren.
- Bam, London, 04/06/2009 14:02
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No politics of envy, I can assure you, but this is just an obscene amount of money to spend on something so unnecessary, vulgur and crass. Do these people ever consider that children around the world are dying but for the sake of a few pence / pounds a week?
The sooner we can rid ourselves of our dependency on oil, the better.
- Ged, Blackheath, London, 04/06/2009 12:15
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Sounds all very nice but if it falls out of the sky you are unlikely to survive.
- Adrian, London, 04/06/2009 08:40
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