Trigger Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Two may buy private A380 superjumbosBy MASSOUD A. DERHALLY BLOOMBERG NEWS Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Airbus, maker of the delayed A380 superjumbo, is in talks with two potential buyers of private versions of the $300 million plane that the company calls the "flying palace." "They are not customers until they sign, but there are two very interested parties," Richard Gaona, vice president of Airbus' executive and private aviation unit, said in an interview Monday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "It's going to be a private jet," Gaona said, adding that one of the customers was in the Middle East. The A380 is at least two years late, and spending on the program will result in an $8.2 billion cash shortfall through 2010, Airbus said in October. Airbus' parent, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., said Jan. 17 that the unit will record a loss for 2006, the first in its history. "Airbus could sell 400 Flying Palaces and it won't save the program," said Doug McVitie, managing director of Arran Aerospace, a Dinan, France-based consulting company. "Airbus won't make a lot of money on sales like this because these guys want everything done their own way, so with highly customized planes, you reduce by a large percentage the number of components Airbus could provide." Airbus began offering its jets configured as business aircraft in 1999, initially using mainly the A319, normally a 124-seat jet. Since 1999 it has doubled the sale of its corporate jets and wants to tap increasing demand, particularly in the Middle East. The plane maker is expanding from the Airbus Corporate Jetliner, based on the A319, to bigger planes, including the widebody A330 and A340, "and soon the A380 flying palace," it said on its Web site. The Middle Eastern market is one of the most important in the world as a result of the booming economies of the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, Gaona said. He estimated global demand to be 30 to 35 private aircraft a year, from the 20 aircraft Airbus sold in 2006 and 15 in 2005. Airbus has sold 80 private jets to date. "Most probably the demand will keep at 30 aircraft a year and I think this is already a good number in the market," Gaona said. The Middle East will represent 30 percent to 40 percent of private jet sales. Gaona also said Monday that Airbus has won two orders for the private "VIP" versions of its long-haul A340, one for the A340-500 and one for the A340-300. He said one of the buyers is from the Middle East, but he declined to be more specific. "It's too confidential," he said. Airbus' sales of the four-engine A340 have dwindled in the past two years as customers choose either Airbus' two-engine A330 or The Boeing Co.'s 777, which also has two engines. The additional engines on the A340 increase fuel costs by roughly 10 percent per trip. Private aviation in the Middle East, the world's third-largest market after the U.S. and Europe, is expected to continue growing at 10 percent to 12 percent annually and be valued at around $800 million in 2012, double its current worth, said Ali al-Naqbi, chairman of the Dubai-based Middle East Business Aviation Association. Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Some people have WAAAAAY too much money to play with. <_< Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 And soon they'll have VEEERY much of space for partys at 10 km... Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 And LOTS of new initiates into the "mile high" club. :lol: <_< Link to post Share on other sites
Louis Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 And LOTS of new initiates into the "mile high" club. :lol: :lol: I would paint mine black with the white bunny on the tail. Oh and I would also have the king-sized revolving bed. <_< Link to post Share on other sites
Gervasius Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Damn, the parties you could throw at that thing. You ain't been drunk until you've been drunk at 30,000 feet. Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Steve Bamford is one of the interested parties - to haul all of us around to the National model contests around the globe Link to post Share on other sites
Vesper Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 As long as I get that hot red head in the corner. . . Ves <_< Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 A private 380 - and all we can think about is booze, women and parties at 20.000 feet! Aren't modellers supposed to be quiet nerds? Link to post Share on other sites
Keith Diamond Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 A private 380 - and all we can think about is booze, women and parties at 20.000 feet!Aren't modellers supposed to be quiet nerds? That's just the upper deck. The lower deck will have an airbrushing room, a display room, and a stash room. Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger Posted January 30, 2007 Author Share Posted January 30, 2007 Aren't modellers supposed to be quiet nerds? No. Link to post Share on other sites
jbrundt Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Hope they don't mind waiting a Loooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggg time for their planes. Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Ghost 531 Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Yeah but, how many sharks with friggen laser beams on their heads will it hold? Muaahahahahahaha! Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 A private 380 - and all we can think about is booze, women and parties at 20.000 feet! <_< I think that's a pretty exciting A380 thread... :lol: ! The real question is, do we put in a mud wrestling ring for the ladies, or would baby oil be better… ! Link to post Share on other sites
Keith Diamond Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 (edited) I think that's a pretty exciting A380 thread... <_< ! The real question is, do we put in a mud wrestling ring for the ladies, or would baby oil be better… ! KY. But make sure that if you throw an old guy like Blue against two hot ladies in there, he doesn't have a heart attack and keels over Edited January 30, 2007 by Keith Diamond Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger Posted January 30, 2007 Author Share Posted January 30, 2007 (edited) That's just the upper deck. The lower deck will have an airbrushing room, a display room, and a stash room. Oh yeah, there's a bar downstairs too. Edited January 30, 2007 by Trigger Link to post Share on other sites
Brady Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I heard they were reviving the original concept of parasite escort fighters to protect the lumbering behometh. Only this time, instead of the Sparrrowhawk, they're using a slightly updated design: :) Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Bahr Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 As long as I get that hot red head in the corner. . . :) Sorry, already married to her! Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Only this time, instead of the Sparrrowhawk, they're using a slightly updated design Well, only slightly. :) Link to post Share on other sites
jagman Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Steve Bamford is one of the interested parties - to haul all of us around to the National model contests around the globe That would be cool... Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I'd certainly go for a ride in it. Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger Posted February 2, 2007 Author Share Posted February 2, 2007 That would be cool... You left off the false canopy Link to post Share on other sites
jagman Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 You left off the false canopy Y'know, I contemplated putting one on, but you wouldn't have been able to see it much. Link to post Share on other sites
Keith Diamond Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I somehow have the feeling that someone will use the Revell kit to build one for next year's silly week... Link to post Share on other sites
jagman Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I somehow have the feeling that someone will use the Revell kit to build one for next year's silly week... Well if anyone wants to make one of 'Modeller One' It would be very impressive. Link to post Share on other sites
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