[NYTr] Saudi prince buys $310m Airbus

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

The Guardian - Nov 12, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/nov/12/theairlineindustry

Saudi prince buys $310m Airbus

by Dan Milmo

The world's thirteenth richest man has set a new standard for
billionaire opulence with the first VIP order for the A380 superjumbo.

Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who topped the Forbes Arabia rich list
last year, has invested a small piece of his estimated $20.3bn (#9.8bn)
fortune in an Airbus "Flying Palace", which is priced out of most
tycoons' range with a retail price of $310m.

Airline customers for the mega-jet, which can seat up to 850 people,
have managed to win sizeable discounts by placing bulk orders but the
Riyadh-based billionaire is expected to have paid the full price -
before adding the multimillion pound cost of kitting out the airliner.

The passenger version of the A380 has already raised the bar in
luxurious air travel, with inaugural customer Singapore Airlines
fitting its business class section with double-bed cabins.

However, private buyers will have much more leeway to indulge their
whims, because the lack of hundreds of economy class seats leaves ample
room for a kitchen, boardroom, cocktail bar, gymnasium, jacuzzi and
giant plasma TV screens. Virgin Atlantic, one of the biggest investors
in innovative airline products and a prospective A380 buyer, has
considered installing a swimming pool and creche in its planes.

Alwaleed, a cousin of the Saudi King Abdullah, made the bulk of his
fortune from a high-risk investment in Citigroup in the 1990s, although
the value of his stake has fallen by a third this year after Citigroup
was caught in the centre of the sub-prime crisis. His other
shareholdings include News Corporation, Time Warner and Canary Wharf.
Alwaleed tours his business empire in a custom-made Boeing 747-400,
which pales in comparison with the 73m-long A380.

"Prince Alwaleed's order means that Airbus' sales success in the
corporate jet market now extends from its smallest aircraft, the A318
Elite, all the way up to its largest, the A380 Flying Palace," said
John Leahy, Airbus chief operating officer.