AN entrepreneur is letting out a genuine AirBnB — made from an old passenger jet.
University lecturer Steven Northam, 39, bought the front half of a 1960s Boeing 737 for £5,000.
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He then spent £15,000 converting the 29ft-long cabin so it now sleeps four people over two-storeys, with a hot tub installed in an old jet cowling.
An original toilet, seating and overhead lockers remain in place — but it is also kitted out with a flight simulator in the cockpit, as it had previously been used to train flight crew.
Mr Northam, 39, bought the five-tonne front section from Chichester College, West Sussex, where aircrew had trained using the simulator.
Planning permission has been approved for the plane, near Steven’s home in Colden Common, Hants, to be rented as an Airbnb.
It already has a waiting list of 300 people.
He said he needs to add a waste treatment plant for sewage and has to plant trees to make the site less visible from the public highway.
Married dad-of-two Steven said: “It was a concern that if I didn’t get it granted, what I would do with half a 737 plane.
“But it’s granted, and now I’m excited to crack on with finishing it up, getting it all ready and hopefully opening it up as an Airbnb in a few months.
“The council were really supportive of this innovative, different quirky idea, which I wasn’t expecting.
“But everyone was quite supportive and helpful, and I’m glad it’s gone through.
“Next I’ve got an armoured truck to convert into a caravan.”
He worked ‘fairly solidly’ from 7.30am to 4pm on his project from July to September 2022 to make it a cosy place to stay – while retaining the original toilet, eight overhead lockers and three of the 30 passenger seats with trays and pouches underneath.
Mr Northam found old passenger tickets – from Monastir, Tunisia to Lyon, France – tucked between the seats which revealed the Boeing belonged to the airline Tunisair – the national airline of Tunisia.
He believes it is around 54 years old and was one of the first to be built.
He said: “It’s a very old school plane.
“It’s one of the very early ones – it’s retro.”
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