Wuhan, China has what must be one of the most unusual restaurants in the world: It’s a complete 737, with the interior rearranged as a restaurant with airline-style seating, waiters in flight-attendant uniform, and entry through a jetway.
It’s even got a flight simulator built into the cockpit—but that’s an extra-price side order at the restaurant, which has taken the name Lily Airways. Businessman Li Llang bought the retired jet from Batavia Airways in Indonesia; its previous owners included British Midland. That was just the beginning of the journey to China.
The plane couldn’t be flown in; it had to be disassembled and reassembled. Li says “Demounting, port, shipping, business license, trade declaration…all these procedures were never done by anybody before, which means I had to go through them one by one.” The packing and shipping added about $450,000 to the 5-million-plus he paid for the plane.
