Playboy’s Big Bunny private jet is taking to the skies again after landing for the last time in 1975 when Hugh Hefner sold the iconic airliner to Aeromexico.
Known as the “Mansion in the Sky”, it has seen the likes of Cher, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Shel Silverstein as its patrons. It originally took off in 1970 when Hefner bought the jet for US$5.5 million.
The new iteration of Big Bunny has a glossy black exterior stamped with the iconic rabbit head and the original N950PB registration number on the tail. The new Big Bunny will return to its former duty of transporting artists, influencers, and thought leaders around the world.
The new jet pays homage to its predecessor with its similarly stylish spaces, created by Playboy’s in-house team and International Jet Interiors.
Anna Ondaatje, vice president of global brand and franchise strategy at Playboy, says: “One of our primary influences was, naturally, the original 1970s Big Bunny jet — the rust-coloured pop-up seat in crushed velvet was directly inspired by the orange leather seats of the O.G. Big Bunny that are so immediately recognisable.”
The new interiors featured custom-dyed cognac crocodile-embossed leather wall coverings, emerald-hued natural stone countertops, custom herringbone floor coverings throughout, sheepskin and leather-covered pilots’ seats, a SkyTheater–designed cinema system, and even a rotating art collection from the coveted Playboy archives.
The aft-cabin features duelling mohair-upholstered sofas draped with two cashmere jacquard blankets with the N950PB tail number embroidered on them. Big Bunny also doubles as a discotheque, just like the original aircraft, with multicolour nightclub-inspired lights.
Hefner famously loved to eat lobster and roast beef dinners while in the air, and the new Big Bunny is back with decadent meals served on bespoke tableware. It includes custom hand-blown Asp & Hand glassware, gold-rimmed Polish porcelain, and N950PB embroidered napkins. It also has a pop-up bar that emerges from one of the cabin’s credenzas.
Ondaatje says the design of the plane allows guests to enjoy themselves no matter where they are in the space, and part of the journey is being on the aircraft itself.
Another luxe aircraft making recent headlines is Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich’s “Bandit”. The Boeing 767-300ER with its given nickname due to a black stripe painted around the cockpit window that resembles a mask. It is being offered an asking price of US$100 million as the billionaire had purchased a new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
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