For sale! One unused head-of-state aircraft

“We proposed the design and a specific trim and finish with the perception we had about the Tunisian culture,” explained Frederic Nevejan, PLUS 33’s owner and designer.

As the work was under way Tunisia had its revolution and the new government decided it had no requirement for the aircraft, so handed it to Tunis Air.

“The A340-500 was completed and is now available for sale,” said Nevejan. “It was a great challenge to complete this aircraft but the help from the Tunisair people was terrific.”

The resulting design for the aircraft is a VIP configuration for 56 passengers, with the cabin divided into four main areas. “There is a lounge area, including a dining room for six people, a desk for two and a multimedia area with two big sofas with a capacity for eight passengers,” said Nevejan. 

“Close to this area there is a bar, including sofas. The third area is composed of a main bedroom with en-suite bathroom, and two lounges with convertible sofas. Finally, the fourth area is composed of galleys, first class seats and some economy seats.”

PLUS 33’s work obviously impressed the Tunisians and the team is now working with Tunisair on the design of its new two-class A330-200.

Nevejan said: “We have developed a specific trim and finish for these aircraft, with a completely different colour approach in comparison to the existing Tunisair cabin.

“For the business class we imagined a new idea by using some materials we have never used on any airlines before, and for the economy class we decided to give more space by ‘playing’ with different colours for the seat fabrics.”

He continued: “In any case, we developed this new cabin by taking into account that passenger profiles can be Tunisian but also from European/American/Asian cultures. So we wanted to find a good compromise where every passenger feels good, relaxed and definitely wants to travel on the Tunisair A330.”