Saturday, February 22, 2014

How about an elevator for your 747-8(BBJ)?

Anyone who can afford to purchase a personal luxury jumbo jet shouldn’t have to climb steps to board his $500 million plaything. At least that’s the pitch from Greenpoint Technologies, which is developing a personal elevator that descends from the belly of a customized Boeing 747-8 to whisk presidents, princes, and tycoons from the tarmac to the plane’s main deck.

Greenpoint’s Aerolift is aimed at customers who are spending up to $250 million to outfit one of Boeing’s iconic humpbacked, four-engine aircraft with wood paneling, bedroom suites, and home theaters. That’s on top of the $356.9 million list price for the unmodified 747. There’s a “cool factor of pulling up to my 747, and out pops an elevator,” says Bret Neely, vice president of sales for Kirkland (Wash.)-based Greenpoint, which creates custom interiors for Boeing’s VIP jets. “We’re trying to sell prestige here as well.”

There is a practical side to the four-person elevator, whose design Greenpoint patented in January: It spares infirm and security-conscious passengers from trudging up a steep flight of rolling stairs, Neely says. VIP aircraft tend to park away from the jet bridges at airport terminals. Greenpoint developed the device at the request of a wheelchair-bound customer shopping for a 747-8 who previously was forced to perch precariously atop forklifts and catering trucks to board smaller jets.

A belly-mounted elevator seems a natural fit for the “small but very profitable market” of high-end private jets, says Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at aerospace consultant Teal Group. “One of the missing pieces in making jet travel luxurious is that interface between terminal and airplane.”

A decade ago, an elevator would have been too heavy. That barrier fell, thanks to new, lightweight composite materials. Working with Boeing, Greenpoint found the one place on a jumbo’s underbelly where it could install the device without disturbing flight controls, fuel systems, and landing gear.

So far, Greenpoint has one elevator customer; it needs another to make a product launch financially feasible. “We have a couple of customers that are looking at purchasing 747-8s and want the Aerolift on board their aircraft,” Neely says. “If that occurs, we’ll go forward.”

(Julie Johnsson - BloomberBusinessweek)

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