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Arab prince's super jumbo pursuit

1 Jan 2008 by business traveller
What would you do if you had all the money in the world?

Buy a super jumbo, and that’s what Saudi Arabia’s HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, did. He recently signed a firm order with Airbus for an A380 Flying Palace, becoming the first customer for the VIP-version super jumbo, which will be powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines.

“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,” says John Leahy, Airbus COO, Customers. “It also complements our strong VIP A330/A340 sales.”

Prince Alwaleed chairs the Kingdom Holding Company, a financial investment enterprise with about US$25 billion in assets. He is the sole private owner of a Boeing B747-400 and still counting.

The super jumbo entered service last October with Singapore Airlines.

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