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A specially-upholstered 150-million-pound Airbus
A330-200 has been selected for the purpose and
will be ready by October. It will include a meeting
room, 60 business class seats, encrypted communications
systems and a missile decoy system, the Daily
Mail reported.
Sarkozy was reportedly unhappy with his Airbus
A319s, which he said "lacked the necessary
presidential stature" and were smaller than
the Boeing 747-200B used by US President Barack
Obama to fly across the world.
"Air Sarko One" will have a wingspan
two feet longer than the US plane.
The French president also wanted a full-sized
bathtub on the plane but was told it could pose
a problem, as under heavy turbulence water may
overflow and cause short circuits.
But Sarkozy's extravagant purchase has come under
criticism among austerity commentators.
British Prime Minister David Cameron decided
to travel on commercial flights as part of the
government's austerity drive.
Even Tony Blair's plans to purchase two private
jets, at a cost of 100 million pounds, were scrapped
by Gordon Brown soon after he came to power.
Sarkozy's government, however, said the new presidential
plane was anything but an extravagance.
"There is nothing ostentatious, simply a
desire to have equipment fitting for the world's
fifth power," said Luc Chatel, the government
spokesman.
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