21 February 2023 , 12:00
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A private jet is being scrapped after it was flown for only 30 hours, it has been reported.
The Boeing 747-8, which was originally intended for a Saudi royal, was flown just 16 times.
It sat on the ground for almost 10 years at EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg where it was meant to be fitted with a lavish interior.
That never happened and nor were its owners able to find a new buyer for it.
The plane was eventually flown to Pinal Airpark in Arizona, where retired planes get stripped down and stored, CNN reported.
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The fate of the aircraft - which would have taken a huge amount of resources to create - highlights the wasteful nature of private jets.
The private aircraft was one of the biggest in the world (stock photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)The plane is a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), a modified version of the company's jetliners that is targeted at governments and corporate clients.
It has a range of 10,000 miles and cabin space of about 5,000 square feet, the most of any similar jet of its size.
Connor Diver, a senior analyst at aviation analytics firm Cirium, said that the 747-8 version of the BBJ has struggled to find much success.
“Ten were built in total, and this is the first one retired,” he said. “It’s not transparent who exactly is buying them, but it’s a very, very large private aircraft and the only operators or buyers tend to be governments and royal families.”
This particular one was intended for Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, CNN reported.
He died in 2011, just months before the scheduled delivery. The plane went up for sale for $95 million but a buyer was not found.
Part of the problem when it came to selling it on was the high cost of kitting it out, which could stretch to £40million.
Boeing reportedly bought the plane back in 2022, before it was flown to Arizona on April 15, 2022.
It is now at the Pinal Airpark where disassembly is ongoing.
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One company chief recently told The Mirror how they had found a new purpose for chartered jets - to safely ferry pets around.
K9 Jets is a newly launched company which specialises in taking animals and their owners from the UK to a number of locations, including the East Coast of the US, Paris and Lisbon.
Although tickets for the first K9 JETS flight don't even go on sale until the end of February, 2,200 people have already registered their interested in the service.
Owners and their pets will clamber aboard a luxury Gulfstream jet that seats no more than ten passengers with their pets.
Tickets start at £7,100, which includes space for one human and their pet, as well as private terminal fees, luggage and all taxes.