World's first aeroplane hotel ready for take-off at Stockholm airport

An abandoned jumbo jet at Sweden's biggest airport will open this month as the world's first aeroplane hotel.

The "Jumbo Hostel" – a disused Boeing 747 at Stockholm-Arlanda airport – has 25 rooms, each measuring 65 sq ft. They are spartanly furnished with bunk beds, overhead luggage compartments and flat-screen televisions offering entertainment and flight information. A reception area and café are at the front of the jet and toilets and showers are at the rear. The Boeing's upper deck "bubble" is being converted into a conference room, while the cockpit is being transformed into a wedding suite.

The hostel is the brainchild of Oscar Diös, 36, a Swedish entrepreneur who hopes the relatively cheap and novel accommodation will attract a varied clientele of flying enthusiasts and budget travellers. The Boeing, built in 1976, first saw service with Singapore Airlines. It was later sold to Pan Am which eventually passed it on to a Swedish leasing company, Transjet, which went bankrupt in 2002. Since then, it has been parked on the perimeter of Arlanda airport.

"We already have 200 bookings," said Mr Diös. "The inside looks very nice and we have designed it in a cool 1970s style. All the staff will wear classic airline uniforms. The plane has space for 74 guests but we are building more rooms in the engine bays beneath the wings, so that number will soon be 82."

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