BBJ is putting an extreme spin on upcycling. Boeing’s business-jet division announced a new plan to turn commercial-passenger 747-8 airliners into the largest floating palaces in the sky. The 747-8 Turnkey program will locate and acquire commercial 747s for clients, oversee a custom interior refurbishment at one of its associated facilities, and overhaul of the engines before delivering it to the client.

“The 747-8 continues to serve as a premier VIP and head of state aircraft and discerning customers are interested in continuing this tradition of excellence in private air travel,” said Joe Benson, president of Boeing Business Jets, in a statement.

The BBJ 747-8’s range of 8,875 nautical miles gives it the ability to reach almost any two city pairs in the world, such as New York and Sydney or Dubai and Los Angeles, without refueling. The aircraft’s total cabin area of 5,179 square feet, including a length of 100’8″ and width of 20’1” (or twice as wide as two G650 cabins put together), will be configurable in whatever way the owner wants, from the ability to carry 75 passengers to large, luxe zones for lounging. The features can include full-size bedrooms with showers, spiral staircases between decks, movie theaters, and sprawling dining rooms.

There are about a dozen BBJ 747-8s, which have typically been designed for heads of state, royal families or government leaders. Both the Qatar Amiri Flight and Kuwait government operate these aircraft. Ownership isn’t cheap. A brand-new “green” 747-8, which means the interior needs to be added, has a $367 million price tag. The custom interior can add another $25 million to $50 million. Hourly operating costs are about $23,000 per hour.

The last 747-8 International (non-freight version) was delivered in 2023, so Boeing is better than UHNWI and governments will buy one of the 50 commercial 747-8s on the market and go through the refurbishment process. Chris Shindle, BBJ’s director of marketing, told Robb Report that the costs to bring an older aircraft back to like-new condition would depend on the state of the aircraft, its engines, and the type of interior a client wants. The 747-8 model has technologies from the 787 Dreamliner that reduces its noise footprint, fuel consumption compared to earlier 747 models.

Why would anyone want a late-model 747 with the launch of the new Boeing 777X aircraft that has an even longer range and more advanced technology? Part of it is that the program keeps pushing back the expected delivery date of the first aircraft, from mid 2026 now to 2027, per Bloomberg.

Shindle says there are other reasons. “There are head-of-state customers and VIP clients who still have a significant amount of interest in an aircraft this size with four engines,” he says. “That market segment drove us back to offer this because of the iconic nature of the product. We don’t think there will be much cannibalizing between the two.” And since the VVIP bizliners typically only fly 200 to 300 hours per year, the revised 747-8 could “last decades,” he says.