Sunday Times 2
Etihad’s luxurious £12,500 penthouse in the sky
With much fanfare and theatrics, Etihad has unveiled its brand new flagship aircraft, the behemoth Airbus A380, which boasts the world’s only penthouse in the sky, and the Boeing B787 Dreamliner.
The Residence is a one-of-a-kind, three-room suite that costs £12,500 for a one-way flight
Stepping onto the A380 is more like arriving at a chichi business hotel than a plane. Even the galley is like an elegant reception with chocolate brown and champagne-hued décor and ‘food and beverage managers’ looking as if they’re about to go to a ball.
Turning left (something most of us never do on an aircraft) and ascending to the upper deck, one is taken straight to the airline’s piece de resistance: The Residence – a 125-square-foot, three-room private suite, which comes with a Savoy-trained butler and, according to the airline bosses, is already booked up and has had encouraging sales so far.
The living room is suitably glamorous, with gold cushions strewn over a leather-clad sofa; and the shower and bathroom put other airline facilities to shame. Guests will certainly avoid the usual hold-your-nose-and-think-of-England approach needed in most airborne lavatories.
And it’s hard to believe a double bed can fit on a plane, even the gargantuan A380. But there it is, beckoning weary and heavy-walleted travellers into its comfy fold.
But it’s all actually a little smaller than one might imagine, so as well as a seven-figure salary you’ll require a relatively trim physique to enjoy it.
The airline declined to comment on who is on the waiting list to fly in The Residence but with the hefty one-way price tag of £12,500 for single or double occupancy, the names Mr and Mrs Beckham spring to mind. Super-rich, celebrities, perhaps even royalty will grace this quite unreal space – a design feat unchallenged by any other airline.
Peter Baumgartner, Chief Commercial Officer of the United Arab Emirates’ national airline, said: ‘For a three-room cabin, it’s not overpriced. Effectively it’s four times the price of a first class ticket, so that’s double if you’re travelling in a couple.’
The A380 enters commercial service on December 27 with daily flights between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow Airport.
(C) Daily Mail