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Saudi Prince Buys 'Flying Palace'

Reuters
Posted: 2007-11-13 07:57:20

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
AP
The price of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's private A380 was not disclosed.

PARIS (Nov. 12) - European planemaker Airbus named on Monday Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal as the first private buyer of an A380 superjumbo, the world's largest passenger airliner.

The prospective buyer's identity had been kept secret for months but was unveiled to coincide with the Dubai air show.

Prince Alwaleed, whose interests span Kingdom Holding to Euro Disney, hotels and banking, has ordered a VIP version of the A380 dubbed the Flying Palace. He already owns a Boeing 747-400, the newest type of the original jumbo jet currently in service.

The bigger Airbus superjumbo has been hit by production delays but entered service with Singapore Airlines last month.

It can seat 525 passengers in three classes or more than 800 in an all-economy layout by using less space between seats.

Leg room will not be a problem on the Flying Palace, which features 551 sq metres (5,930 square feet) of usable floor space on twin passenger decks -- enough for a couple of tennis courts.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich recently denied reports that he had bought himself a private A380.

The ordinary passenger edition sells for over $300 million but the price of the special-edition aircraft was not disclosed.

The A380 can be fitted with cocktail bars, casinos, showers and sleeping quarters for first class passengers on ordinary airlines. For the super rich, the sky is the limit.

Photo Gallery: Flying in Style

Stefen Chow, AP

It's a bird. ... It's a plane. ... It's a really, really big plane. The Airbus A380 superjumbo jet completed its maiden voyage from Singapore to Sydney on Oct. 25. The aircraft is the world's largest -- and perhaps the world's most posh.

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"It would depend very much on what sort of cabin interior the purchaser wanted," an Airbus official said this year. "On our VIP jets we offer the option to include whatever they want."

Boeing has three VIP clients who have bought five of its latest giant, the 747-8 Intercontinental which is due to enter service with airlines in 2010, a Boeing spokesman said.

Reporting by Tim Hepher, Jason Neely; editing by Sue Thomas

Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-11-12 07:04:30
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Recent Comments

1 - 10 of 14
14 comments

televisualone 11:26:30 PM Nov 12 2007

That rag head didnt do anything to earn that cash its all blood money. It would be nice if he dies in a fiery plane crash.

nyadnanz 07:19:52 PM Nov 12 2007

why do you guys show such animosity twds an individual who in more ways than one has helped the USA. He is not responsible for the credit disaster here, he is not responsible for the stock market dipping, but there is someone who is liable for this our President and Vice-President. But they don't care, Dick Cheney is too busy making BILLIONS from oil and government contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Bush is just an idiot or has really bad advisors. Cannot put blame on people who have next to nothing regarding our economy, but we should blame a person who we elected for a job, a job that he has failed at horrendously. But that is what happens in our society, CEO and Presidents get rich regardless of their advancements, progress, or job performance; here's a concept, how about paying them based on their job performance. WOW

heartun21 06:49:17 PM Nov 12 2007

Greedy bastard...Guess where his money came from? I hope he gets his plane!!

And it crashes and burns . They hate allout guts anyway so doom on you too. Prick.

traderjim7 06:25:58 PM Nov 12 2007

Yes, (sarcastically) that is exactly what the Prince needs to do, give some of those billions to a fund to help Americans getting foreclosed on stay in their homes. How about giving money to charities to help get food, water, and medicine to people who need it, instead of giving money to people who should not have been given a loan in the first place for a home that they could never afford?

nyadnanz 06:08:28 PM Nov 12 2007

Reading through these blogs, I am quite amazed at how little knowledge people have of how the world ticks. Saudia Arabia has nothing to do with fixing the price of oil, they merely are suppliers, when the barrel fluctuates as it has been they aren't getting paid a lot more money, there are middle men, companies who get the bulk of the change in price. #1 reason for oil going up is China buying more and more each year as their needs are growing. Simple supply-demand, China buys more oil, the less of it there is, the higher the price will go. China has done that to Oil, Steel, and cement. "Arabs" have nothing to do with fixing price. OPEC is also somewhat involved but who bullies OPEC around, the USA. 2) the Prince has donated billions to charity in impoverished areas of the Arab world, built hospitals, health care system to rivals ours in the USA, etc. It hasn't made news here in the states, because it isn't popular with Americans to hear about an Arab donating such wealth to ch

Oppidmp 03:19:00 PM Nov 12 2007

what a waste, like there isn't enough air traffic problems and congestion.
Honestly you really couldn't think of anything else to do with the money????

genexus1 03:08:00 PM Nov 12 2007

IF ALLISION FROM ORACLE BUYS ONE, A FLASHY BILLIONAIR GETTING A PLANE TO MATCH HIS YACHT,
IF QUEEN LIZZY GETS ONE, THE STIFF UPPER LIPS WILL SPEW VENOM;
AN ARAB PRINCE JUST GETS ONE WHILE MANY ARABS ARE IN POVERTY.

agean2007 02:18:04 PM Nov 12 2007

When you pump gas and work your butt off to fill the tank.......
when you think of our troops, remember this news story,,,,,,12 Nov. 2007

Saudi Prince Buys First Private A380.

dyb716 01:27:06 PM Nov 12 2007

when you have money and do not know what to spend it on must be a great feeling

pfimail2 01:20:18 PM Nov 12 2007

The Arabs are going to charge as much for oil as we are willing to pay. If suddendly the US announced that they were going to increase domestic oil production by 25% you would see all of that foreign oil go down fast. We have vast amounts of oil along our shores and in Alaska, but we won't touch it. Harvesting that oil can be done in a safe manner. Let's quit throwing our money at the Arabs. Can you imagine what all that extra money could do to improve our infrastructure. I'm talking new schools, hospitals, housing for the aged and a whole lot more.

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