Toulouse. He wants to fit out a hotel in an Airbus A380: the images of this crazy project
Through Thibaut Calatayud
Published on
He wants to set up Toulousea hotel in… a Airbus A380 ! Frederic Deleuzeemployee of the European aircraft manufacturer, is currently working on this crazy project, called “Envergure”, including 31 rooms including two suites and UN Restaurant 60 covers, integrated into a building which takes the form of a control tower.
He worried about his professional future
“During the summer of 2020, we had the announcement of the social plan (this plan provided for the elimination of 3,378 positions in Toulouse. After long negotiations, the aircraft manufacturer and the unions reached an agreement to avoid forced layoffs , editor’s note). Like most of my colleagues, I thought to myself that there might be life outside Airbus. We all thought a little about what we could do if we were on the lists of this social plan, ”recalls the one who is still in office.
The idea of refitting an airplane definitely germinates in the course of a banal conversation at the office. “It was during a meeting. I was discussing with colleagues who work on the eco-design of aircraft. One of them informed me that the first A380s had entered the dismantling phase, to be cut into pieces, thrown in the trash or partially recycled”.
A heartbreak for Frédéric Deleuze who therefore embarked on a major reflection: how to value these planes to give them a second life.
He wants to give new life to the Superjumbo
He then came up with a first idea: to transform the giant of the air into… housing! “It could make a nice house or apartment and a little bit alternative”. Finally, it is towards a much more substantial project that the Airbusian will head: a hotel-plane.
And installing it in the Pink City was obvious to him. “The Toulouse region has very few unusual accommodations and, in addition, it is the European capital of aeronautics with the Aeroscopia museum and the Airbus environment that we know”.
Skill study ends
Little by little, the project won over professionals in the hotel and building industry. “Today, we are at the end of the declination study that I am conducting with the Duval Groupa property developer very interested in the project,” explains the 38-year-old aeronautical engineer.
The study must also make it possible to see whether this operation can be financially viable. Asked about the price he will have to pay for an A380, this Airbus employee does not prefer to answer. “All that is cost and recovery of the plane, these are confidential data on which I cannot communicate. But the idea is to be able to recover the plane at a lower price than that offered to the airlines”.
Expected opening in 2024
The future location of this unusual hotel is not yet known. “It’s being negotiated. But the idea would be to set it up in the area around the new exhibition center (MEETT, editor’s note) and Aeroscopia museum. This could drain a clientele of enthusiasts but also professionals”. A variety that would allow him to optimize the occupancy rate of his luxury hotel.
If all the lights are green, the opening of this place like no other is expected for the beginning of the year 2024.
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