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Here's an update to the Four Seasons private jet announced last year.
While that was only an announcement in theory, the global luxury hotel brand has delivered its Boeing 757 completely kitted out in Italian leather lie-flats, wool carpets, and a caviar-black livery that certainly sets it apart on the runway. The tech side of things is covered by Bose headphones and a full in-flight entertainment system.
The design inspiration is reported by the brand to be "caviar and champagne," which is likely to be the two most popular words uttered on this exclusive plane.
The on-board experience will include an executive chef, sous chef, concierge and guest services manager, who will be there to cater to the 52 passengers' every need. That's down from the usual 200-295 on the various configurations of Boeing 757s in service. The staff will be able to customize each passenger's journey to ensure a personalized fit for each guest.
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The Four Seasons lie flats are longer than average and don't leave your feet tucked under the shell in front.[/caption]
The Dopp kit is by Bulgari, which accounts for only a small drop in the $132,000 per person price tag of the inaugural 26-day journey. The first global jaunt will occur in 2016 and will jet passengers between Four Seasons hotels in Istanbul, Hawaii, Mumbai, Thailand, Bora Bora and Sydney.
There will be three other Around the World tours in 2016 at varying costs, which will bring in a potential revenue of over $25 million to the Toronto-based luxury travel brand.
The plane marks a departure from the ground for Four Seasons as it moves to be a more end-to-end luxury travel lifestyle brand that is able to service its loyal customer base with luxury both at each leg of the journey and in between. The importance of this cannot be underestimated as travel brands seeking growth look to novel areas for unique positioning. The marketing of the experience emphasizes how the new jet — which replaced a non-branded charter jet for the Around the World product — fits into the Four Seasons brand. In some ways, the jet in and of itself has become an expensive marketing tool that re-trenches the brand against others in the uber-luxe category.
Click below for a "making of" video as the team builds the custom livery, and the video above left is the inside look at the expensive, expansive jet.