Of course, there are, but you’ve got to be prepared to spend a lot! What we’re going to see next goes way beyond the concept of a small “private jet” belonging to successful businessmen or yuppies in TV shows and movies from the 1980s. These are authentic air monsters with capacity for hundreds of personnel to cater for a select group of politicians, senior executives and VIPs.
To begin with, we have one that comes with a modest price tag of €130 M, small change for the Russian oil tycoon and owner of Chelsea Football Club, Roman Abramovich. The Boeing 767-33AER, nicknamed ‘The Bandit’, is an impressive plane with a capacity for 300 people that has been largely transformed into a family residence and of course comes with gold trim details, chestnut wooden interior and state of the art technology. The luxury dining room that comfortably seats 30 people is one of the residence’s main features.
The 130 million that Abramovich paid seems like peanuts if we compare it to 450 million euro Airbus 380 belonging to Prince Al Waleed bin Talal al-Saud. This is the most expensive jet in the world with three different levels, and has been completely refitted compared to the Airbus commercial model.
Inside the jet, there’s space to park two of the Rolls-Royces from the prince and international investor’s private collection, and as you’d expect the interior is dripping in gold and marble finishes. In the main lounge, there’s even a gold throne, and a special prayer room with computer controlled prayer mats that remain constantly aligned towards Mecca, regardless of the plane’s altitude.
To conclude, we’re going to look at another toy in the €400 M price range. This time it’s the Airbus A340-300 belonging to the Uzbek business magnate, Alisher Usmanov. Although this is a huge amount of money, it’s still a far cry from the 545 million Usmanov spent on a new yacht last year. His jet is named ‘Bourkhan’ after his father, and come with a crew of 14 people although it has a commercial capacity for 375 passengers. As you’d expect it’s fitted with a high-tech missile defence system and can fly 14,500km without having to land to refuel. To put it in perspective, that’s 2000km more than the earth’s diameter.
