By David Ellis.
THE Royal Family of Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula has put a family Boeing 747 up for sale, betruthcause they say they’ve got another one and want to downsize.
At 500-million British pounds, which is around 876.5-million Australian dollars, this flying royal palace was bought brand new in 2012, and it then took Boeing a whole two years to fit it out at their San Antonio plant to the Qatari’s specifications.
And amazingly, it’s clocked-up a mere 436 hours in four years of royal flying duties… which is just eighteen 24-hour days, or thirty-six 12-hour days, meaning it is still virtually as-new.
Australian specialist aviation website, airlineratings.com says the plane has First Class style seating for just 76 passengers served by 18 crew in several lounge areas, a double-bedroom suite for the royal couple, the royals’ dining room with a table seating fourteen and doubling as a boardroom meeting area, eight bathrooms on the main deck and two on the upper deck, and a fully fitted-out medical centre.
And there are two galleys on the main deck and a third on the upper deck, with each having their own catering crews.
The little State of Qatar has a population of 2.6m of whom only 313,000 are Qatari citizens, the other 2-million-odd being expatriates employed in or associated with its natural gas and oil reserves that are the third largest in the world.
THE Qatar Royal family’s Boeing 747 inconspicuous on the runway with nothing to indicate its regal ownership, or how indulgently those owners travel.
THE jet’s upper deck has a double bedroom for the royal couple, as well as this throne-room style lounge area which can double as a boardroom with a massive table and chairs brought in if needed.
