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Jumbo Aeroplane Hotel Allows Mile High Club Experience on the Ground
Posted by Jesus Diaz at 9:53 AM on September 1, 2008
Back in 2006, Oscar Diös heard there was a dead Boeing 747-200 built in 1976 on one of the runways at Arlanda Airport, the largest international airport in Sweden, north of Stockholm. It was once owned by a Swedish company called Transjet, who used it to fly muslim pilgrims to Mecca, as well as doing charter flights around the world until it was grounded for "organisational problems" in 2002. The noble Jumbo was in a bad state, but Oscar saw the possibilities right away. Probably after way too many glasses of akvavit that day, Diös thought he had the perfect idea: to buy the 747 and convert it into a low-cost hotel.
I was getting ready to expand my hostel business in 2006 when I heard about an old wreck of an aircraft for sale at Arlanda. Since I had for a long time wanted to establish my business at Arlanda I didn't hesitate for a second when this opportunity struck.
The connection doesn't seem too logical. In fact, it may even seem crazy to most, but it is not. After all, Oscar is the modest owner of the hostel Uppsala Vandrarhem och Hotell, in Uppsala, so he must know how expensive is to actually find a terrain near a busy airport like Arlanda, then actually build an entire hotel from scratch.
That's why, when he learnt about the dead Jumbo, Oscar only saw cheap space for rooms and decided it was time to continue his inexpensive hotel business right next to Arlanda. He thought that, being the busiest, largest international airport in his country, there was going to lots of clients looking for cheap accommodation.
However, from buying the aeroplane to setting up the hostel there was a long way to go. First he needed to get the OK from the authorities of Sigtuna, which is the town that controls the terrains in which the Arlanda Airport is based. He had the perfect pitch for them: it was going to be a unique landmark, he thought. He wanted to place it right at the entrance of the airport itself, on top of a concrete foundation with the landing gear tied to two steel cradles. The authorities heard the story and, surprisingly enough, agreed to the plan and granted him permission to set it up.
The hotel itself was also a challenge. It wasn't going to be as easy as to install a few beds, and start selling curry kyckling macka, small beer cans, lousy pot coffee, and peanut bags at the plane second level cafeteria. The Boeing 747-200 interior--with 450 seats--needed to be completely dismantled and sanitised. Then, it needed to be insulated, divided into 25 rooms (each of them 6 square meters, with 3 meters to ceiling), and completely rewired. It also needed new plumbing, bathrooms, sanitation, and a new climate control system, since the windows on planes are fixed and can't be opened. And to finish it all, the whole result had to adhere to the strict construction policies of Sweden.
At the end, and after a two year odyssey, he did it: the Jumbo Hostel--as Oscar called his creation--has been towed to its final destination, and bookings will start in December. All in the name of inexpensive accommodation, pilots and stewardesses sex fantasies, and crazy Swedish landmarks. Pass the akvavit Oscar, next time I go to that part of the world, I'll be checking in. [Jumbo Hostel via Random Good Stuff]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Emiat
Posted 10:24 AM 1/9/08
So which club do you join then since you won't be joining the mile high club in a grounded plane.
Emiat
urbanturban666
Posted 10:14 AM 1/9/08
old vehicles seem to convert into housing pretty well... like those diners that are in an old train car thats bolted to the ground...
urbanturban666
Dacker
Posted 10:01 AM 1/9/08
This reminds me of "The Airplane Home", out here near Portland, OR. A guy has been spending years turning a decommissioned Boeing 727-200 into a house.
[www.airplanehome.com]
Dacker
The Magnificen7
Posted 10:00 AM 1/9/08
No thanks. I'll just get a private cabin on an Emirates Airbus A-380.
The Magnificen7
Leonard Nimrod
Posted 10:41 AM 1/9/08
@VakeroRokero: Hopefully something like THIS.
Leonard Nimrod
Leonard Nimrod
Posted 10:38 AM 1/9/08
@The Magnificen7: This is a proper hotel built in agrounded jet, not a luxury accommodation while flying.
Leonard Nimrod
VakeroRokero
Posted 10:34 AM 1/9/08
I just wanna see what the maids look like!
VakeroRokero
ups
Posted 10:56 AM 1/9/08
I wonder how thick are the walls... under an airport it should be pretty hard to get a good night/day sleep!
ups
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 10:53 AM 1/9/08
Didn't JetBlue have to issue a public apology for doing something like this?
92BuickLeSabre
krystar
Posted 11:06 AM 1/9/08
so did it come out to be cheaper than actually building a steel and concrete building?
i can't imagine an airliner, even used, to be cheap....and all that for 25 small rooms with no room for expansion.
krystar
sxr7171
Posted 11:29 AM 1/9/08
@The Magnificen7: Yeah that or feed a small nation for a month.
sxr7171
Hardcore1
Posted 11:25 AM 1/9/08
OK, I don't usually like people who bitch about grammar, but this article was damn near unreadable.
"The connection doesn't seem too logic. In fact, it may even seem crazy to most, but it is not."
"He thought that, being the busiest, largest international airport in his country, there was going to lots of clients looking for cheap accommodation."
"The hotel itself was also a challenge. It wasn't going to be as easy as to install a few beds"
among many others...
Hardcore1
Dice
Posted 12:03 PM 1/9/08
that is pretty cool, he will probably get business just cus its a plane. too cramped for me though
Dice
McLucky
Posted 11:55 AM 1/9/08
I'm not sure I understand this, when I travel the last thing I would want to do would be to spend anymore time in anything vaguely airplane or airport like.... If the "hotel" has a fire do you get to slide down the inflatable escape slides?
McLucky
Curves
Posted 11:53 AM 1/9/08
@Hardcore1: I didnt even notice any of that stuff until you pointed it out. I guess I was reading the post for the gist of the content and not for grammerical perfection. Silly me.
Curves
DMF
Posted 11:48 AM 1/9/08
It's only the mile high club if you do it in a stanky ass bathroom... just isnt the same if it aint.
DMF
SportBilly
Posted 12:30 PM 1/9/08
@Dacker:
The best part of that link is that the photographs of the airplane say: "Click for full size"
My monitor isn't quite that large. ;)
SportBilly
The Magnificen7
Posted 1:22 PM 1/9/08
@sxr7171: @Leonard Nimrod: Apparently, I should have added sarcasm tags.
The Magnificen7
sisiay
Posted 3:15 PM 1/9/08
his next hostel will be a row of cars simulating being stuck in traffic.
sisiay
FritzLaurel
Posted 6:30 PM 1/9/08
Because that's exactly what I want when I just hop off a 747 from NYC is to get right back in another one.
Although, the concept sounds cool and I'd be the first to admit that I'd love to check it out if I were backpacking through the area or something.
FritzLaurel
strider_mt2k
Posted 10:51 PM 1/9/08
I just can't see this venture getting off the ground.
strider_mt2k
The Magnificen7
Posted 12:59 AM 2/9/08
@strider_mt2k: Yuk yuk yuk.
The Magnificen7
heylookitscook
Posted 2:17 AM 2/9/08
Can you still seduce sexy stewardesses in the latrine?
heylookitscook
ab3
Posted 2:16 AM 2/9/08
"lousy pot coffee"
Whoa chill out its near impossible to find brewed normal (as in not Capifrapicrapichino) in some parts of Europe, as they rarely ever drink coffee so they just give us crazy Americans some nasty instant coffee (its just a powder you mix into hot water)so they should be happy they are getting pot coffee
ab3
BoinK
Posted 2:59 AM 2/9/08
@ab3: You should visit Sweden or Finland, we drink more coffee than any country in the world (per person that is). Finland takes the top spot, followed by Sweden and then Norway and Denmark. Here in Sweden 9 out of 10 people drink coffee and on average we squeeze down 3.2 cups a day.
Useless fact of the day satisfied.
BoinK
ab3
Posted 3:15 AM 2/9/08
@BoinK: Fair enough, I've actually only been to Ireland/England/Scotland so I guess I really shouldn't comment on European habits. But on the island, they never drink coffee, only tea.
ab3
Camperton
Posted 4:59 AM 2/9/08
@ab3:
I grew up in Sweden. Trust me, they drink a lot of coffee there.
Camperton
KarinDiscoGirl
Posted 4:45 AM 2/9/08
@BoinK: Damn right! I have a friend in Norway, I nearly puked when he told me how much coffee he drinks.
KarinDiscoGirl
Kaiser-Machead on the Edge
Posted 5:56 AM 2/9/08
What? No gutted cowling to canoodle in? Pass.
Kaiser-Machead on the Edge
FuzzyPlushroom
Posted 8:26 AM 2/9/08
I doubt this had anything to do with alcohol - I'd be more inclined to say he was high at the time.
*dodges flying vegetables*
FuzzyPlushroom
urbanturban666
Posted 2:39 PM 2/9/08
@McLucky: why not sleep in a grounded plane? if youve ever had to fly within north america you usually wind up spending more time sitting around ohare or dallas/fortworth ofr hours if not days or standing in a tsa lineup... I find hte flight to be the painless part.
urbanturban666