It may be the most prestigious business jet completion project ever, but Europe's tiny band of high-end interiors specialists are surprisingly reluctant to take on the first Airbus A380 corporate airliner.
It is not that the superjumbo is necessarily too big. Lufthansa Technik and Jet Aviation have been happily installing twin-deck luxury interiors on private and head of state Boeing 747s for years.
Together with new Swiss player AMAC Aerospace, they are between them slicing up the contracts for the eight 747-8Is so far ordered as business jets. Jet Aviation announced the first new-generation jumbo deal at the Middle East Business Aviation convention last week.
However, when it comes to the one example of the world's biggest airliner sold to a private customer - a Saudi Prince - no one seems in a rush to commit, despite the fact that the green aircraft is due off the production line at Airbus next year.
The reason would appear to be that the completion players are sceptical about Airbus's boast that it can sell up to 30 VIP A380s, many of them to existing 747 owners. None wants to make the huge investment in manpower, time and equipment it would need to install an A380 interior, especially if the Saudi VIP superjumbo proves an orphan. And, besides, there is enough work from the hugely successful 747-8I to keep all of them flat out for the next four years at least.
Source: Flight International
