eBay is one of the biggest success stories on the Internet. What if you don’t want a porcelain cat or used pair of jeans, but are in the market for hard to find luxury items? The answer is the BillionaireXchange.

The BillionaireXchange is the world’s first online auction and trade site for luxury items. They are the first international auction and exchange site for the affluent. BillionaireXchange draws wealthy buyers from all over the world searching for high-end luxuries, either for sale or auction.

Browsing the classy site, you will find an amazing variety of luxury items, covering the following categories: Arts & Antiques, Luxury Vehicles, Boats & Yachts, Luxury Real Estate, Jewelry & Watches, and Places & Helicopters.

At the time of this writing, some of the premier luxury items available include mansion estates owned by basketball star Shaquille O Neal and Hall of Fame football quarterback Dan Marino, a St. Regis Penthouse in San Francisco, 2008 Riviera Sport Yacht 4700, 2007 Murcielago LP640 Coupe car, and a 2004 Dassault Falcon 900c jet.

Registering on the site is simple and easy process, designed to screen for unqualified and/or undesirable elements. Once registered, members of The Xchange can buy, sell, bid-on, auction, and or exchange luxury items from all around the world.

If you are looking for trading your luxury items, then BillionaireXchange can help you too. Imagine trading your upscale mansion in Beverly Hills, California for an elegant Chateau in France. How about trading your antique custom Rolls Royce for a new model Bentley. For wine connisieres, exchange a bottle of your best 1802 Chateau Lafitte for a bottle of 1947 Cheval Blanc. The possibilities are countless. So, ask yourself, “What is the luxury object of your heart’s desire?

To be successful, the management team of BillionaireXchange strongly believe in protecting the integrity of the luxury brands for auction, as well as offering secure escrow transactions. They partnered with industry leading Safefunds to provide escrow services for both buyer seller transactions.  By offering this service, the company provides its members with piece of mind in either buying or selling these desirable, high ticket items online.

BillionaireXchange is headquartered in Miami Florida, but has an aggressive plan to expand internationally. They are moving forward with opening new offices in Beverly Hills, China, Germany, Dubai and the U.K. The company believes it’s critical to have representation in these key, global areas.

So what are you waiting for? Your luxury dream is now only a click away.

Described by the company as “the world’s most advanced business jet,” the $21 Million Hawker 4000 Business Jet is the first plane to offer big-jet safety and technology features at a midsized-jet price.

After a 20-year, $1 billion development process, Hawker Beechcraft has held a delivery ceremony at its Wichita headquarters to hand over the first production version of the Hawker 4000 business jet.

It has a range of 3,280 nautical miles, that’s coast to coast or New York to London nonstop, which is pretty usefull unless you want to refuel in Greenland en route to London.

Hawker Beechcraft is also the first manufacturer to certify a composite-body jet with the FAA. The fuselage is composed of three enormous pieces (vs. more than 10,000 on a traditional competitor).

Tucked into its fine leather this private jet offers limitless leathers, woods, and exotic materials.

“There is already a two and a half year wait list, in part thanks to orders from fractional-jet companies like NetJets and BJETS, so even those who won’t be buying a 4000 may still be able to hop aboard one soon.”   Source: CNN

The trend towards pampering first-class passengers continues.  Airlines have increased leg room and offered bigger beds, softer bed sheets, better food, high tech gadgets, and even more privacy.  The next big craze is private suites, that make it seem like you’re traveling in a 5-star resort hotel.

Singapore Airlines just unveiled its new first-class suites on its Airbus 380 super-jumbo jet …. twelve luxury suites with a chaise lounge, 23-inch wide-screen LCD TV, and a large selection of CDs to listen to with Bose headsets.

What’s the price for flying in luxury? A round-trip ticket from Singapore to Sydney will cost $7,350 (including tax), a fifteen percent premium over the current standard first class fare of $6,400.  Full article

Imagine not having to deal with the hassle of luggage fees or wondering if you’ll miss your connecting flight because of weather delays.

Those are just a couple of the perks associated with private jet travel. While most of us can only dream of indulging in such a luxury there are some who exclusively fly via private plane.

They are the ones who do careful trip planning and don’t need to look for private jet travel bargains.

However, if you have been saving up to splurge on a once in a lifetime trip you might consider the following private jet package deals.

TCS Expeditions is offering a deal to see some of the world’s most famous sights in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. You’ll spend two weeks flying on your own 757 from London to the mysterious sandstone city of Petra in Jordan; India’s famed Taj Mahal and the pink-stone capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur; Morocco’s ancient trading city of Marrakech; the desert metropolis of Dubai; and Egypt’s ancient Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. The trip is priced at $38,950 per person, with deluxe hotel accommodations, meals, tours, and even gratuities included.

If the cost of that adventure is too steep you might consider taking a more affordable private jet jaunt around Europe by British tour operator, Jeffersons. You choose from day trips to six-day journeys; all include roundtrip flights in a private jet (departing from smaller airports around London); complimentary drinks on the outbound flight; limousine transfer to and from the hotel; and accommodation with continental breakfast.

One example being offered right now is a two-day stay in historic Bruges in Belgium, in a luxurious suite at top-rated Hotel de Tuilerieën. The cost is $7775 per person, based on two people traveling, or $4293 if you gather a group of four. Some of the other available destinations include Paris, Venice, Monaco, Capri, and Madeira.

Finally, if money is no object then consider signing up for Abercrombie & Kent’s ultra-luxe travel package. The company’s Nine World Wonders trip departs next March and lasts 26 days.

The flight departs Miami and returns to Boston after taking you around the world to see the planet’s most incredible sights, including the dramatic Inca city of Machu Picchu, the mysterious Easter Island and Cambodia’s temple city of Angkor Wat. Sounds exciting, right? Hold on to your wallets if you are taking the flight. The mega-adventure comes with a hefty price tag: $89,800 per person.

The airline industry is a mess. Flight delays, poor customer service, soaring ticket prices, skyrocketing fuel costs.

But there’s one segment that’s flourishing like never before – private jets.  We’re not just talking about the sleek small versions, but these are commercial size aircraft that typically hold hundreds of passengers. These jets are now being customized and converted into luxury life-style playgrounds for the rich and famous.

“Money is not a problem,” said Tillman Paul, a designer with Jet Aviation in Switzerland, one of the largest firms for custom aircraft interior design.

Unlike conventional airlines concerned about fuel prices and a weakening economy, the luxury aircraft industry is fashioning aircraft into mansions in the sky.

Flush with cash from the greatest oil boom since the 1970s, Middle East patrons are increasingly spending their wealth on private aircraft. The number of millionaires in the UAE grew by 15 per cent in 2006 to 68,000, while Saudi Arabia topped 90,000, according to a recent study by Merrill Lynch, the investment bank, and Capgemini, a consulting firm.

Full article

Private jets are getting faster, more expensive, and offer more luxury features. But what does the future hold for private jets?  Halogen Guides looks at four key trends they feel will reshape the world of private aviation.

1.) Materials

Aviation has been well served by aluminum. It is strong, durable, and easy to repair, but it has its drawbacks. Limitations of the metal itself, its strength, flexibility, and most of all weight, are a major factor in aircraft design. Manufacturers have long looked to composite materials as a way of breaking free from these restrictions, but have been hampered by both the high cost of composites as well as their brittleness. But new developments in the fields of thermoplastics and metal alloys, in particular aluminum-lithium, and a drop in the price of more time tested materials like carbon fiber, mean that private jet designers are at last able to employ these materials in their plans. Grob Aerospace’s forthcoming “spn” light jet is using carbon fiber to create a roomy cabin on a plane whose size generally dictates that customers remain hunched over while standing. Moving forward, we can expect that new materials will allow for higher speeds, greater fuel efficiency, and more maneuverable aircraft.

2. Supersonic

The dream of supersonic civil aircraft has largely been hampered by public outcry over the prospect of sonic booms echoing loudly over the land. But new research suggests that planes may be able to circumvent, or at least dampen, the once seemingly inevitable sonic boom. The advancements involve changes in fuselage shape, which can break up and reshape the waves which cause the boom. The Nevada-based consortium, Supersonic Aerospace International, has already taken orders for its QSST jet. Designed by aerospace pioneer Lockheed Martin, the jet will be able to fly from LA to New York in a little over two hours.

3. Greener Technology

Private aviation is often considered one of the worst culprits for greenhouse gas emissions. With a growing recognition of the dangers of global climate change, not to mention the ever-increasing cost of jet-fuel, manufacturers are pursuing designs for the next generation of jets that emit less and fly further, while burning less gas. The pair of Rolls-Royce BR725engines which will be mounted on Gulfstream’s next generation G650will have four percent better fuel consumption and 21 percent better NOx emissions than previous models.

4. Personal Jet

Very light jets may be getting the most buzz these days, but they may have to make room for an even daintier competitor. Designs for personal jets, single pilot, owner-operated aircraft with room for one to four passengers are springing up all over manufacturer’s whiteboards. Maverick Jets offers its SmartJet, a pint sized plane not unlike the Smart Cars one sees careening through European cities. Meanwhile, Cirrus has been generating the most buzz of late with mockups of its personal jet, called simply “The-Jet.” The Jet’s single engine mounted above the fuselage will power the plane to speeds up to 345 mph, at an altitude of 25,000 feet, and a range of 1,000 miles. And for anyone who might feel uncertain testing their flying skills in a jet, The-Jet comes complete with its own nose-mounted parachute.
Article by: Halogen Guides

They’re elegant, efficient, and exciting and require very little infrastructure. Airships have the potential to be more efficient than airplanes, cars, and even passenger trains and barges.

The Manned Cloud, with its fins and whale-like shape, resembles the Thunderbird 2. But, unlike the huge International Rescue rocket in the puppet series, this gigantic airship won’t be roaring off in a blast of flame and smoke to any international emergencies.

Instead, its designers say the 700 foot, super airship will gently lift 40 passengers into the sky for a serene cruise of the world.

The airship is a floating hotel called the Manned Cloud, and – according to its designers – it will be capable of circling the globe in a few days. The 20 bedrooms will provide the ultimate room with a view as the airship cruises at a height of 18,000ft. It has a restaurant, a library, a lounge and a gym on the first deck.

On the second level there will be 20 passenger rooms, terraces with panoramic windows, a spa and a bar room. The airship is powered by a giant rear propeller and also has two further engines pointing downwards for vertical take-off.

However, if you’re thinking of checking in, you will have to wait until its expected launch date of 2020.

Massaud, the French company behind the venture, is billing it as an ecologically friendly way to travel, leaving little impact on the environment – and eliminating the need for hotels.

Designer Jean-Marie Massaud’s team has been working in conjunction with the French National Office of Airship Research on the project since 2005.

A spokesman for Massaud, AurÈlie Ullrich, said: “The idea at the heart of this project is that passengers can see fantastic places like Thailand and the Caribbean without the need to build ugly hotels everywhere.

“It could land for a few days or for a week if there is a big event going on.

“We don’t want to be carrying around gallons and gallons of heavy petrol or diesel and we are looking into fuelling it with some form of gas.”

The cost of a night on the airship is yet to be decided, but it is likely to be out of the reach of most pockets.

However, it could provide the perfect hideaway for camera-shy celebrities.

Are you a globetrotting billionaire and now bored with private jets? Maybe this is for you.

If you are someone whose diary has breakfast meetings, lunch conferences, dinner date and all the in-between activities of the day scheduled in different countries, you are sure to appreciate the announcement of Aerion’s supersonic business jet that will take you places in minutes. The demise of Concorde has ensured that enough thoughts are given to the design and commercial viability of the jet. While Concorde was a civilian flight, the SBJ is aimed solely at the corporates and jet setting billionaires to ensure the return of their invested money.

The preliminary orders the company booked in just three months is nearly $1.5 billion with an initial deposit of $250,000 for its $80 million SBJ. Aerion’s key innovation is the plane’s so-called ‘laminar airflow’ wing. The design helps minimize drag at high speeds. The SBJ flies at a maximum of Mach 1.6 to reduce the need for costly high-temperature materials. It will also fly at a maximum of 51,000 feet like other other business jets. So, ready to take the skies on the world’s first supersonic business jet? Not so soon, you have to wait until 2014 before the first flight takes off; unfortunately time doesn’t fly at supersonic speed!  Full article

Personal jets have long been the preferred transportation choice of execs and the rich & famous. In fact, most top executives will do anything to bypass the delays and hassles of commercial air travel.  A growing number of pilots, day trippers and business travellers with some extra dollars are finding a new way to join the jet set.

Small private planes better known as “very light jets,” or VLJs, are starting to appear in the sky and on the tarmacs of small local airports across the country. Several companies plan to amass fleets of the new VLJs and offer air-taxi and on-demand charter flight services once they get federal approval.

First-hand displays of the aircraft, called the “SUVs of the sky,” drew scores of curious aviation buffs at a recent trade show in Hartford, CT for private pilots and aircraft owners. But while several of those attending already own small propeller-driven planes, they said their bank balances fell far short of the $1.6 million to $3 million needed to buy one of the little jets.

“If I had an extra million and a half on hand, sure, I’d buy one. I’d have to win the lottery first,” said Lars Margolies of Gardiner, N.Y., eyeing one of the jets at Hartford’s Brainard Airport with New York City resident Rob Boettcher.

Boettcher, who currently owns a four-seat Piper Archer, said very light jets are getting a lot of buzz in circles of aviation because they are extremely attractive to people who want to upgrade, and because of the potential cottage industries that new air-taxi services could spawn.

Among those services: Linear Air of Concord, Mass., already has one of the mini-jets and four more are expected to arrive in the next several months. The company plans to expand its fleet to 15 sometime in 2008. Linear Air already offers charter flights on eight-seat Cessna Caravan turboprops, but company president and CEO William Herp said the new jets – which will carry two pilots and three passengers – are lighter and faster. It will start using its new jet as soon as the Federal Aviation Administration gives the go-ahead, he said, adding he hopes that will be sometime this fall.

“We have customers chomping at the bit to try them. I literally get e-mails and phone calls every day from people with questions about it,” Herp said.

Another company, a Chicopee, Mass.-based startup called Pogo Jets, plans an initial public offering of stock to raise money to order more than two dozen of the jets, with an eye toward launching service in 2009. Pratt & Whitney Canada, a division of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp., manufactures the PW600-series engines used by many mini-jet makers. The engines, small enough to fit in the trunk of a midsized car, can be built in eight hours each, and can power a little jet for more than 1,600 kilometres on a single tank of fuel depending on weather conditions. In fact, the mini-jet market has helped Pratt & Whitney’s Canada operation become its fastest-growing segment, Pratt spokeswoman Jennifer Whitlow said. It expects to deliver more than 3,000 of the engines to customers this year, she said.

“Pratt took a big and ambitious dive into the market, and going with them was one of the best decisions we’ve made,” said Andrew Broom, a spokesman for Albuquerque-based Eclipse Aviation, which is using Pratt engines on its new Eclipse 500 VLJ.

That craft, which starts at $1.5 million, was certified by the FAA in 2006. Those are the jets that Linear Air already has on order, and which Pogo Jets hopes to acquire. Eclipse has more than 2,600 orders for its new jet, which can be equipped with leather seats, an entertainment system with satellite radio and other perks. More than 50 of the planes already have been delivered to buyers.

The slightly larger Citation Mustang personal jet, produced by Wichita-based Cessna Aircraft Co., also received the FAA’s approval in 2006. Cessna has been building Citation planes since 1973, and its Mustang VLJ started drawing interest from potential buyers almost immediately after it was announced in 2002.

While some air-taxi services have favoured the smaller Eclipse jets, many well-heeled industry leaders, companies and individual plane owners and pilots have gravitated to the Cessna Mustang. And as with Eclipse, demand for the Cessna has been so robust that it’s outpaced supply. A Citation Mustang ordered today, costing between $2.5 million and $3 million, will be on the owner’s tarmac in fall 2010.

Article written by Stephanie Reitz – The Associated Press

These actions are strong signals that, after the abortion of its first large passenger plane development program–”Y-10″–in the 1980s, China has decided to challenge Boeing and Airbus in the global market for large aircraft. Full article