The same aircraft airlines operate for commercial flights are transformed into luxury sky-high residences and flying boardrooms. In their business jet form, Airbus and Boeing’s
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Crafting the VVIP jet cabin’s interior to suit the owner’s preferences is complex and expensive. Aircraft manufacturers, top designers, and aircraft completion centers have collaborated to streamline the process by creating core design themes from which future owners can choose the style that best suits their needs.
CelestialSTAR Offers A Modern Spin On Palace Comforts
Lufthansa Technik AG has recently revealed a new CelestialSTAR VVIP cabin interior for the Boeing Business Jet 777-9.
The design is tailored to suit the needs of VVIPs and heads of state. Designers had a lot of room to work with on this aircraft—over 3,660 square feet.
Revealed ahead of the Dubai Airshow next week, the CelestialSTAR design is influenced by the Middle East’s cultural heritage with a modern twist.
“With CelestialSTAR, Lufthansa Technik’s design team aims to emphasize both the contemporary purity and the typical Middle Eastern geometric design patterns as well as the vastness and openness of the sky: a reminiscence not only of the widest cabin among all newly available VVIP aircraft types but also of the diversity in the Middle Eastern philosophy,” Lufthansa Technik explains.
The Pampering Cocoon Suite
This cabin features private bed and bathroom spaces and an adjoining Work&Balance area, creating a versatile private suite. The bathroom and sleeping quarters can be merged to provide complete privacy, allowing VVIPs to enjoy a generous king-sized bed and a luxurious rain and massage shower large enough for two.
This roomy shower is a true luxury, considering the water supply constraints on planes. Water is heavier than Jet fuel. Jet fuel weighs 6.84 pounds per gallon, while water weighs 8.35 pounds per gallon. Putting large water tanks on an aircraft impacts the take-off weight and the flight range, but the BBJ 777-9 technical specifications allow it. The CelestialSTAR cabin design is founded on Boeing Business Jets’ BBJ 777-9 design data, ensuring it the cabin is technically suited to the aircraft’s certification and safe operation.
Immersive Entertainment Center
Borrowed from Lufthansa Technik’s EXPLORER cabin concept, this entertainment room transforms into an immersive wellness and entertainment zone with cutting-edge projection technology. It can project 180° impressions of travel destinations or captivating digital art on a cinema screen. Rotating and sliding lamellae let in daylight and enhance the sense of space and connectivity.
Work And Balance
Adjacent to the cocoon suite, the Work&Balance area maximizes cabin width for multifunctional use. Guests can gather around a large VVIP desk for meetings or reconfigure seating for more intimate conversations. Cleverly integrated swivel mechanisms expand table surfaces as needed, and trapezoidal wall niches add a touch of elegance.
Celestial Lounge
Serving as the aircraft’s lobby, the Celestial Lounge sets the stage for a grand entrance with an integrated bar and stylish seating arrangements—intermediate doors close for privacy and open to create a sense of spaciousness.
Conference and Dining Area
This versatile space functions as a traditional majlis, a Middle Eastern gathering room, and accommodates dining and conferences. Eleven individual seats can rotate for various configurations, and state-of-the-art communication technology keeps passengers connected.
Room For The Entourage
Recognizing the needs of Middle Eastern royal families and their entourages, the cabin’s second half offers accommodations for advisory staff and other personnel. There are Deluxe Suites in the Entourage Area for high-ranking guests. The Executive Area seating offers 32 business-class seats. A premium economy cabin beyond that accommodates more guests.
A Cabin Design That Makes The Most Of The BBJ 777-9’s Features
“The thoughtful design of the BBJ 777-9 interior created by Lufthansa Technik illustrates the key features of our newest, largest, and most capable BBJ on the market,” said Alexis Fecteau, Managing Director of Marketing at Boeing Business Jets. “The elegant interior elements maximize personal comfort for passengers onboard the BBJ 777-9, which is capable of flying over 22 hours and connecting any two cities in the world, non-stop.”
Lufthansa Technik will showcase all the details of CelestialSTAR at the Dubai Airshow from November 13 to 17, offering an immersive experience through a film and a virtual cabin tour.
“The BBJ 777-9 is the largest aircraft type newly available on the market and thus simply predestined for its role as successor to the BBJ 747 as the most popular aircraft for heads of state, many of which are among our loyal customers for decades,” said Hassan Gasim, Sales Director Middle East VIP & Special Aircraft Services at Lufthansa Technik. “Through our close cooperation with Boeing Business Jets and furthermore Lufthansa’s role as launch customer for the new type, we were able to build up extensive technical expertise at an early stage. Therefore, we are pleased to present our valued customers at the Dubai Airshow this once again groundbreaking interior that makes the most of the BBJ 777-9’s size.”
Boeing’s 737 BBJ Select Cabins
During the National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas, Boeing revealed new BBJ Select cabin designs for the BBJ 737-7, the newest aircraft in the BBJ 737 MAX family.
Offering customers the option of customizing cabin interiors from pre-selected themes reduces costs and speeds up delivery times. BBJ Select offers a wide selection of predesigned cabin layouts and configurations to streamline installation and lower total airplane costs.
“Boeing Business Jets is offering customers a new, streamlined approach to designing a unique, comfortable, and functional interior for our BBJ 737-7 jet,” said BBJ President Joe Benson. “For customers who may not have the time or desire to create a fully bespoke interior, BBJ Select offers pre-designed options to outfit their cabin, which allows us to offer the jet at a very attractive, fixed price.”
There are modules for every airplane section, including guest rooms, private offices, family rooms, and VIP seating configurations.
There is a shower in the private lavatory of the bedroom suite. BBJ Select offers 144 modular cabin combinations in three color palettes to suit personal, business, and head-of-state aircraft needs.
Boeing collaborated with Aloft AeroArchitects and Greenpoint Technologies on the BBJ Select layouts. The aircraft manufacturer designs, builds and delivers fully outfitted VIP aircraft under a single contract, streamlining the cabin completion process for owners.
The Airbus ACJ TwoTwenty VIP Jet
During the NBAA-BACE, Airbus revealed cabin options for its Airbus Corporate Jets TwoTwenty aircraft. This slightly more modest VVIP jet, based on the Airbus A220 aircraft type, gives owners a home in the skies suited to their lifestyle. Again, design themes simplify design selection and expedite aircraft completion. ACJ’s Head of Creative Design, Sylvain Mariat, has developed an innovative and functional flying experience by collaborating with Comlux completions in Indianapolis.
The aircraft offers six separate lifestyle zones with plenty of room for dining, resting, meetings, entertainment, and sleep. Though this is a smaller airliner-category jet, there is still room for a good-sized shower onboard, perhaps best suited to one person.
ACJ customers can customize their aircraft based on pre-selected “Ambiances.” The manufacturer lets future owners play with their private jet concept, offering an online design tool ACJ TwoTwenty. ACJ representatives work with customers to finalize the details that make the jet unique.
Airliner-class private jets offer more extended range and more room onboard for guests than other VIP jets. They have some limitations because they must take off and land on runways suited to the aircraft’s size and weight. Still, those who can afford this palatial jet class can likely also afford a helicopter or smaller jet to reach remote locations.
Some VVIPs will want to customize their jets completely working from a clean-slate design. But having a pre-approved design platform, can save considerable costs in materials, and labor while ensuring aircraft certification. This will help the most affluent members of the jet-set enjoy their high-flying palaces sooner.
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