It’s a bird, it’s a plane, It’s a ... hostel?

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, It’s a ... hostel?
Grounded jumbo jet will welcome overnight guests into cozy rooms.

The Associated Press

Published Sunday, January 11, 2009

When you exit Arlanda Airport on the highway toward Stockholm, you’ll see a Boeing 747 on your left that looks curiously out of place.

The plane sits idle and lonely on a grass-covered mound just outside the airport perimeter, without any recognizable airline colors.

You might think the giant aircraft got lost on the way to the runway and was abandoned here were it not for the inscription on the side: "Jumbo Hostel."

This former Pan Am jumbo jet is no longer taking passengers to the skies but will soon be accommodating them on the ground. Left inactive at Arlanda, Stockholm’s main airport, after its last owner went bankrupt, the plane was rescued by a Swedish entrepreneur looking to expand his hostel business.

"I got information about this airplane standing abandoned at Arlanda," says Oscar Dios, who runs a hostel in Uppsala. "I thought, ‘Why not try to convert it into a hostel since you’ve been converting boats and light houses and trains before into hostels.’ "

Construction crews are working to get the 25 rooms ready for the scheduled opening Thursday. Jumbo Hostel is already taking bookings.

The 65-square-foot rooms are Spartanly furnished, with a bunk bed, an overhead luggage compartment and a flat-screen TV with entertainment as well as flight information.

Every inch of the 3,800-square-foot floor space is being used. There will be a reception and small cafeteria just inside the front entrance, two rows of rooms on each side of the aisle, and showers and toilets in the rear. The bubble on top is being remodeled into a conference room with first-class flight seats.

Rates range from $40 for a bed in a shared four-bed dormitory to $170 for a private room with a twin bed and a single bed. The bridal suite costs $420 per night.

While emphasizing comfort, Dios has added details in the interior decor to remind guests "that they’re actually inside an aircraft."

When you wake up, you’ll see the soft curvature of the ceiling, and, through the row of windows, the tail fins of operational aircraft parked at their gates at Arlanda.

Hostel staff will wear cabin crew uniforms - what else - and the furniture in the cafeteria will evoke the glory days of air travel.

"We’re going for the Pan-Am era. A lot of ’70s," says project leader Gisela Olsson, holding up an orange seat for the cafeteria chairs.

It remains to be seen whether his idea will take off among Arlanda air travelers.

"If I’ve been flying all day, I wouldn’t want to sleep on a plane," says Lynn Sundelius, a 19-year-old student at Stockholm University.

Still, Dios is confident Jumbo Hostel will be profitable and even spread to airports around the world. "It’s no kamikaze project," he says.