(29 Oct 2016) LEAD IN:
Leg room galore and a table for four set for fine dining – that’s what Lily Airways is offering its Chinese customers.
There’s fine wine and gourmet food – but the plane doesn’t make it to the runway.
STORY-LINE:
Fine dining in the skies is great for those that can afford it.
But now foodies in Hubei Province, China can get a first class meal on a jet without having to pay for sky high first class travel.
This jetliner is not going to leave the ground.
Welcome to Lily Airways, first class dining, but without the turbulence.
Lu Dexiao and his wife Zhou Ying have chosen the restaurant to celebrate their first dinner after getting married just hours ago.
“A plane is usually used as a transportation tool. But dining here is more luxurious experience,” says Lu.
The couple have enjoys a mix of French and Russian cuisine and are tucking into dessert.
“We are so happy today. We will recall what we were doing on the day when we got married. I will definitely remember this place. It has a deep meaning. Maybe we will come here for dinner on our wedding anniversary next year,” says Zhou.
Grounded on the square inside an European style shopping complex in Wuhan, Lily Airways has been rebuilt from a retired Boeing 737.
The owner of the restaurant, Li Lang, is also a car collector and mechanics businessman. He bought the plane from an Indonesian airline company in May 2015 and after dismantling, shipping and reassembling, Li finally rebuilt the plane into a restaurant in his hometown.
The project has cost him around 5 million dollars.
“I don’t mean to make a stunt or make a lot of money. I do this mainly to accomplish my dream. I want to do it for its own sake,” he says.
Li’s next onboard project is to convert the cockpit into a flight simulator.
“To start the rebuilding project, we need to know the plane measures 36.4 meters in length and wing span measures 29 metres. How to bring back such a big thing from overseas? (We need to figure out this problem.) Then we dismantled (in Indonesia) and shipped the part to China. Then we assembled, painted and repaired it. The part you are looking at, we are going to make a flight simulator. Now it’s under renovation. We have done this work for three or four months already. It takes a long time to recover all the functions. ”
In the restaurant Li removed the seats and installed leather chairs to make the whole environment more comfortable for dining.
But the waiting staff are dressed as flight attendants.
Wang Ling is at the restaurant for the first time.
Guests order food at a check-in desk and are then given plane tickets. Staff then usher them through a corridor bridge and onto the plane. All guests turn left on this jet.
“We had fun here. I felt as if when I finished the dinner, I would arrive at another place,” says Wang.
The restaurant currently offers only French and Russian cuisine costing 50 – 60 dollars per person.
Li says he intends to update the menu regularly to attract more clients.
The restaurant opened on September 9, 2016 and can entertain 80 diners.
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