Unnamed buyer orders Airbus A380 as private jet

LE BOURGET: European plane maker Airbus said on Tuesday that it had received an order from an unnamed buyer who intends to use the company's A380 superjumbo, the biggest airliner in the world, as a private jet.   

The airliner will be capable of carrying a maximum 840 passengers when it enters service later this year and measures nearly 239 feet in length.   

"It will be for personal use for him and his entourage," Airbus sales director John Leahy said on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.   

"I can't tell you who it is but he's not from Europe or the United States."   

Leahy declined to say when or to where the jet would be delivered, but he said that fitting out the giant aircraft to the specification demanded from the buyer would take "more than a year."   

An A380 sells for 319 million dollars, according to Airbus's most recently updated price list.   

The aerospace industry has been at pains to stress its environmental credentials at the Paris Air Show this year, which began on Monday, amid growing concern about aircraft pollution.   

The A380 is scheduled to enter service with Singapore Airlines later this year.