The World Wealth Report 2007 discusses private jets, pointing out that there are an estimated 10,000 in the United States alone, and contending that ‘the ultra-wealthy are transforming what was once viewed as a more comfortable mode of travel into a sizeable component of their total financial worth’.

Apparently, Boeing has orders for 11 wide-body private jets to be customized as mobile mansions, at a price of roughly $150 million each - most orders are from the Middle East.

CNNMoney.com has just released images of the interior of an Airbus A380 that is being outfitted for ‘an Arab dignitary’ at a cost of $150 million - that’s for the interior design alone, not the cost of the plane. The most distinctive part of the design is a faux desert oasis, complete with cushions and a tapestry of the Sahara.

The grand entrance to the Airbus A380 mobile mansion

A concept sketch for the simulated desert oasis

The plane’s dining room seats 14

The Boston Globe reported on the start of this design project in May 2005, so it’s not clear just how rapidly the project is progressing.

In the Globe’s article, Michael Fahn of Blue Star Jets is quoted as saying that some clients ‘won’t take off without a manicurist or stylist on board’ - at a cost of roughly $100 per hour, plus the cost of getting the service provider home again. Fahn goes on to say that ‘You can’t put a value on that. To not have to make another stop, just have that stuff done while you’re on the plane and go, that’s invaluable.’ Frankly, having one’s nails done while in the air probably doesn’t meet most definitions of ‘invaluable’, but no doubt it is convenient.

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