Didn’t Get the Gift You Wanted? Why Not Buy a Used Airplane Seat?
Jackie Reddy December 30, 2014
Bringing comfort and joy to plane fans this holiday season, Japan’s All Nippon Airways is selling seats from one of its decommissioned Boeing 747-400D aircraft.
For those aviation buffs who didn’t get what they wanted this Christmas, Japan’s All Nippon Airways might just have the perfect gift: an airline seat.
From now until February 28, Japan’s flag carrier will be selling off seats from one of its decommissioned Boeing 747-400D aircraft. This particular vessel was used on the airline’s domestic routes and retired only in March 2014.
While the seats’ electronics have been disabled, buyers at least have the chance to recline to their hearts’ content in the comfort of their own homes. There is, however, one catch: the purchase of these seats is restricted to the Japanese domestic market and can only be bought via this site, which is run by ANA Trading Company, a division of the All Nippon Airways group.
The airline predicts strong demand and is selecting customers by a lottery system. For those lucky few, there will be just seven premium seats available for purchase.
A single seat will set customers back ¥647,000 ($5,421) while a double seat costs ¥747,000 ($6,259). Prices include tax and shipping, with deliveries due to begin in March 2015.
The point of the sale, explained ANA Trading Company’s Ryota Isomura, was to ensure that aviation fans had the chance to own part of an iconic aircraft.
Since it debuted at the Paris Air Show in 1969, more than 1,400 747 variants have been delivered by Boeing. The 747-400D series used by All Nippon Airways was retired in 2009 while its successor, the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, debuted in 2012.
[Photo: iStock]
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Why would anybody want to buy old, filthy, economy seat? I'm terrified when I have to use one of those for couple of hours, certainly don't need a reminder of this experience.
If that seat could talk! Sorry, few things I wanted to say, but can't.
The joys of this website would not let me say a few words starting with the alphabet p. But if those seats can speak, mmm, the mind boggles.
Poo/Pee/Cum/SikBag If that seat could tell stories!
Crazy prices, though it is for a premium class seat, so only 5 doubles and 3 singles from that aircraft. The only electronics they had was the radio channel selector.