AinOnline: First executive A380 has palace potential - by Kirny J. Harrison

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First executive A380 has palace potential - by Kirny J. Harrison

For the better part of a year, Airbus has been referring to the executive version of its A380 as the Flying Palace, so it seemed appropriate that the first customer should be royalty–Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud.He might have the first executive A380, but it won’t be parked in front of the palace tomorrow, or next year. In fact, said an Airbus source, his airplane will not be delivered to the completion center until 2010. And taking into consideration the scope of the interior completion project, delivery of the finished airplane is unlikely before 2012. But when it does arrive, there will be nothing like it on or above the face of the earth. With a price tag in the neighborhood of $310 million (for the green airplane) and completion estimated to be at least another $150 million, the Flying Palace will be the most expensive business jet ever, nudging half a billion dollars. Amid the shaking of heads at the price tag, more than a few observers at the contract-signing ceremony in Dubai wondered what one individual–even one worth an estimated $20 billion–could want with a private airplane that size.