Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is pimping out his new £160m A380 with £90m of renovations that will turn his new toy into a futuristic flying palace. And another A380 may also get an extreme makeover by becoming a flying casino....
Airbus has been approached by potential
Asian buyers who are looking to turn its A380 “superjumbo” aircraft into a
flying casino, says the European aircraft-maker.
François Chazelle, who heads the Airbus executive and private aviation
division, said: “Discussions are under way, and not just with casino
operators.” Should the talks lead to an order soon, a fully-fitted casino A380
could be delivered between 2012 and 2017, he said.
Continue reading "A flying casino?: A possible alternate use of the huge Airbus A380" »
According to USA Today the new book "Boeing versus Airbus", by former New Yorker magazine writer John Newhouse, describes Airbus' Jean Pierson's 1997 negotiation with US Air's Stephen Wolf over the purchase of a new fleet of planes -- he dropped his pants to make a point, and got the deal done, setting the stage for the big rivalry between Boeing and Airbus:
Pierson, who ran Airbus from 1985 to 1998, was at US Airways' headquarters for what he thought would be a short meeting to tie up a 400-plane deal, the anecdote runs.
At the last minute, US Airways' then-chairman Stephen Wolf started arguing for a 5% discount on the selling price.
"Pierson began slowly lowering his trousers and saying 'I have nothing more to give.' He then allowed the trousers to fall around his ankles," says Newhouse in his book.
Continue reading "Would you drop trou to close the deal? Airbus' former CEO did..." »
