US firm offers private jet for VIPs on a budget

[DUBAI] The recent Dubai Airshow produced a harvest of deals for the world's biggest and flashiest jets, but for those unable to afford a US$400 million A380 superjumbo there is always an alternative - the poor man's private jet.

Making its debut on the tarmac at the Middle East's largest aerospace event was what its supplier calls the world's first "re-manufactured" business jet, designed for VIPs on a budget.

Ohio-based Nextant Aerospace takes small business jets that may be 10-20 years old and near retirement, rips them apart and re-sells them with new avionics, engines and interiors. "We're solving the problem of the industry," Nextant's president Sean McGeough said in front of a rebuilt Beechjet 400, gutted and offered for sale "as new" at some US$5 million.