DUBAI // Dubizzle has always been the place to go if you need second-hand furniture or appliances, but now you can also go there if you are in the market for a 300-plus seater aircraft.
An advert on the site for an Airbus A340-542 Prestige has gone online, with the seller expecting a swift sale for a cool Dh150 million.
The aircraft was described in the advert as “out of original packaging but only used once”.
It is being sold by an intermediary, Al Jabbari International DOO, a trade and investment consulting company based in Serbia.
The director of the firm, Mohammed Al Jabbari, admitted using Dubizzle to sell an aircraft was unusual.
“Yes, it is a little bit strange on Dubizzle,” he said. “But it is very simple; it is the most visited website in Dubai. Even the most senior figures in Dubai visit Dubizzle.
“There are registration plate numbers sold there that are worth more than Dh30 million. It’s normal also to find an aircraft.”
He said that the owner of the plane was a VIP based in Switzerland. The plane is registered in France and has been flown for 80 hours since it was built in 2012.
It is available for viewing in Europe, and as an extra selling point, a portion of the interior decor is in gold.
Mr Al Jabbari said it would be unlikely that a company such as Emirates or Etihad would buy the aircraft, as they tend to order directly from manufacturers. “It would be one of the sheikhs or top businessmen in the Middle East who would buy it and use it as a private jet,” he said.
The aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines and is described by Airbus as “today’s ultimate long-haul VIP transport”.
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