The Qatari royals have quite a fleet of private jets, known as “Qatar Amiri Flight.” This fleet of over a dozen jets is owned by the government of Qatar, and is managed by Qatar Airways. These plans are exclusively used by the royal family, and other VIP government staff.
Well, if you have a few hundred millions dollars burning a hole in your pocket, here’s a cool way to potentially spend it.
The aircraft, registered A7-HBJ, is being sold with a mere 1069 total hours. Check out the ultra luxurious finishing of this plane.
Key Features
- Five galleys (with elevator)
- Two private en-suite bathrooms
- Master bedroom, capable of being repurposed for medical evacuations
- Grand central staircase
- Spacious offices and meeting rooms
- Large business lounge with card tables
- Passenger capacity of just 89 (a standard B747-8i can carry up to 605 passengers)
The aircraft is being sold by AMAC Aerospace in Zurich, where it has been parked since June, according to fleet data. Despite owning an additional two private B747’s, neither the seller nor the Royal Family have provided any clarification as to why the aircraft is being sold. The same family previously sold a similarly-equipped B747-8 to Morocco in 2018.
Technical Specifications
| Serial Number | 37075 |
| Engines | General Electric GEnx-2B67/P |
| Fuel Capacity | 191 tons (382,000 lb) |
| Maximum Take-Off Weight | 447.6 tons (984,929 lb) |
| Cycles (Number of Pressurisations) | 297 |
| Range (B747-8 Intercontinental) | 14,800 km (7,991 nautical miles) |
| Length | 76.25 metres (250 ft) |
| Wingspan | 68.45 metres (224 ft) |
| Height | 19.35 metres (63 feet) |
| Combined Thrust | 66,500 lbf (Pound Force) |
Just some of the aircraft’s features and amenities are listed below. You can find a full breakdown of what the plane has to offer as well as additional pictures in the listing brochure linked here.
- Insulation blankets installed which provides thermal insulation and noise attenuation functions.
- Zone I and Zone II have 50 dB +/-2dB, Zone III (aft lounge) and Zone IV (upper deck lounge) have 52 dB +/-2dB.
- Electric Window shades and Roman shades are installed.
- Portable fire extinguishers are installed throughout in the interior of the aircraft.
- Anti-intrusion system is installed which provide highly reliable aircraft intrusion monitoring for the unattended aircraft.
- Water system installed to provide hot and cold portable water to each galley sink, each lavatory sink, bidet, hand sprayer and showers, cold water to the lavatory toilets and cold water to humidification system.
- Digital IFE system from PGA with Audio/Video On Demand (AVOD) / Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Game
capability- Five (5) GES (Global Entertainment Servers) connected in series via Ethernet, to store and manage the distribution of AVOD audio/video and/or audio only media. Each GES can manage up to 20 AVOD clients.
- Main sources & components
- Camera systems (video only)
- IPod / HD port (audio/video) HDMI/USB/IPod/RCA
- 13 Blu-ray players (audio/video)
- AVOD system (audio/video)
- Airshow Moving map (video only)
- Live TV/radio (audio/video).
- Moving Map (Airshow)
- HD Cameras (FWD CAM, DN ZOOM) and Quad cam in anti-intrusion system
- Passenger Address (PA) System
- 55” monitor X 5
- 46” monitor X 4
- 40” monitor X 1
- 32” monitor X 1
- 17.3” VTS Monitor X 2
- 15.6” VTS Monitor X 31
- IFE speakers
- Subwoofers
- Headphone jack plugs
- Cabin Management System with Five (5) 15.6” CMS VTS
- GCS Panasonic eXConnect Ku-band system provides broadband internet connectivity as well as eXTV global television service.
- Honeywell JetWave Ka-band connectivity system is also installed.
- Honeywell CX900 router makes it possible to provide fall back option in case one of the connectivity system is not available, in sequence of Ka, Ku and SBB system.
The Qatari Royal Family’s decision to get rid of the other 747-8i BBJ two years ago was initially unclear. It later became apparent that they had given it to Turkey as a reward of sorts in light of Ankara’s support of the House of Al Thani amid a still-ongoing political spat with a number of other countries, chiefly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
It’s not clear why the Qatar Amiri Flight is now getting rid of 37075, though it still has two other 747-8i BBJs in service. The country’s authorities had previously sold another one of the Flight’s 747-8i BBJ to the Moroccan government in 2010. At present, the Qatari Amiri Flight also has a number of widebody Airbus A340s and A330s, as well as narrowbody A319s and A320s.
Checkout these beautiful interior pictures of this mammoth-
The aircraft’s seller does not detail specific security systems. However, the US Department of Defence gave Northrop Grumman approval to sell missile defence systems for B747-8i aircraft. In the report, published by FlightGlobal in September 2019, Northrop Grumman sought approval for the installation of its LAIRCM system; in which incoming homing missiles are detected and deterred with a strong laser.
