What do you get for the business-jet owner who has everything? The world’s longest airliner, completed in a VIP configuration, of course. So it is for Jeddah-based National Air Services, a private non-governmental business group in Saudi Arabia, which Airbus this month said had acquired an Airbus A340-600. Delivery of the green jet is planned for end-2006; the completion center has not yet been named. The ultra-long-range A340-600 is presently the world’s longest airliner — presumably until the A380 goes into operation — and is widely used on intercontinental routes by carriers in Europe, Asia and North America. And the -600 Airbus recently closed on isn’t the first A340 to see private, executive service: VIP versions of its predecessors — the A340-200 and -300 — are already in service. While our biggest market is for aircraft such as the Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ), there is a need for larger VIP aircraft, as the Saudi Arabian commitment demonstrates, says Airbus Vice President of Private and Executive Aviation Richard Gaona.
