French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s dream of having his own presidential aircraft to rival America’s Air Force One will soon come true, with the Elysee Palace ordering an “Air Sarko One”, fitted with an air filter system so that he can smoke whenever he wants. An Airbus A330-200 has been chosen, 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 said.
Mr Sarkozy was reportedly unhappy with his Airbus A319s, which he said “lacked presidential stature” and were smaller than US President Barack Obama’s Boeing 747-200Bs. “Air Sarko One” will have a wingspan two feet longer than the US plane, but no bathtub (which Mr Sarkozy wanted) as it could pose a problem — with overflowing water causing short circuits in turbulence.