Millionaire spent £64,000 on most expensive flight ticket ever
A millionaire once splashed out over £60,000 on the most expensive flight ticket of all time - but it was for an important reason.
The Australian tycoon bought two first-class seats from Sydney to Singapore for the eye-watering amount.
It turns out that the man was making history with his lavish purchase, which would put him firmly in air travel folklore, forever.
Totalling $123,000 AUS, Julian Hayward is remains the man who bought the world's most expensive flight tickets, after placing the winning bid at a charity auction, raising a generous amount of money in the process.
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The kicker here is that the ticket wasn't even a return - Hayward would need to find his own way home.
So, what made this flight so extraordinary, what exactly made Hayward fork out a cool $100k+ to make the journey from Southeast Asia to Southeast Australia?
Making history isn't cheap, and being on the inaugural flight of a revolutionary aircraft might be enough to whet the appetite of many millionaires around the world.
Hayward wasn't buying any two seats, he was buying two first-class seats aboard the first-ever commercial flight of the Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane ever built.
The tickets were up for grabs at the charity auction by Singapore Airlines itself, starting at $380 (£81) and eventually reaching the jaw-dropping figure of $123,000.
Flying with Singapore Airlines - the first airline to receive the jumbo jets - the Aussie would indulge in the luxuries that the airline's onboard suites had to offer over the course of the eight hour, 25 minute flight.
The sheer size of an A380 needs to be seen to be believed, with most leading airlines nowadays boasting several of the passenger planes in their fleet.
Emirates Airlines boasts the highest number of A380 aircraft of any other airline though, having 121 of them as of April 2024, including some of the oldest active models in operation.
Originally launched in 2007, the double-decker aircraft was lauded for its space, comfort, quiet cabins and fuel-efficient engines.
Depending on the specific model, the Airbus A380 can carry anywhere between 500 and 850 passengers - the only existing passenger plane that comes close to its size and luxury is the Boeing 747, but even that's a far cry.
Even details like its advanced evacuation slide system has impressed.
Despite all the positives, the A380 has began declining in recent years, with Airbus halting production completely in 2021 following concerns over rising fuel costs and effects on the environment.
The good news is that Airbus is working on this, and is set to test a new hydrogen-powered engine on an A380 in 2026.
Joshua Nair