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You are here: Home Life in News Focus Inside Jet Aviation’s flying palaces

17/06/2009Inside Jet Aviation’s flying palaces

Hangar Swiss engineers transform ordinary jets into luxury flying palaces for the super wealthy.

Basel -- In an airplane hangar in Switzerland, a small team of engineers works to transform ordinary jets into luxury flying palaces for the super wealthy. It's a growing market due to millionaires in eastern Europe, Russia and China.

Matthias Bosshart is project manager at Jet Aviation. A Boeing 757 has just been delivered and he has ten months to transform it into a flying palace.

Matthias Bosshart, project manager: "On this aircraft, the customer is asking for different areas in the aircraft. There will be an open area; there will be a private area in a very friendly atmosphere."

The interior design is the key to creating this atmosphere. The company goes to extraordinary lengths to cater to the whims of the super rich. For this it hires top designers.     

Eric Jan, head of interior design: "We're in an environment where we do our utmost to bring out the most natural aspect of our materials, such as we did with this elaborate woodwork you see here. Then we attach them to these panels which are really high-tech, and this gives an aspect of lightness to the material. You see, it's this contrast between a very high-tech material and a very natural finish that creates the sense of luxury."

Another challenge is to make the planes as comfortable as possible for the people who spend a large part of their lives flying. The aircrafts' seats are a top priority.

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