Roman Abramovich buys superjumbo Airbus A380
If you ever wished to travel big, that’s the way to do it: buy the biggest passenger airplane in the world and start rambling around the globe. Roman Abramovich did just that- he bought for an estimated $300 millions an Airbus A380 airplane, the double-decked, four-engined airliner being the largest in the world.
After an air show held this year in Paris, France to which Airbus participated, rumors were started that a private person bought the A380. Of course at that time I thought the buyer was either a middle-eastern emir, the Sultan of Brunei or Donald Trump. Yesterday, one of the leading French daily newspapers, Le Figaro, named the buyer as none other than Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of the English football club Chelsea. He is the 16th richest man of the world with a supposed fortune of $25.3 billions.
The airplane can provide seating for 525 people in standard three-class configuration but it could also transport a maximum of 853 people in full-economy class. It has a range of 9430 miles (can fly from New York to Hong Kong nonstop) and a cruising speed of 560 mph at cruise altitude. Airliner is said to be delivered at the beginning of 2011 after is custom outfitted by Lufthansa Technik company in Switzerland. Hearsay is now emerging that the plane will be more luxurious than Bush’s presidential liner.
Until 2011 the famous billionaire can spend his travel time aboard one of his three marvelous yachts or even flying with his other airplane, a Boeing 767. By the way, one of his yachts is called “Ectasea” so, now I’m particularly curious how he’ll name the Airbus.
