#Australian airline selling stocked bar carts from retired jets

Australian airline Qantas is offering plane aficionados and fans of utilitarian furniture the unique opportunity to buy an authentic stocked bar cart.

The mobile liquor cabinets were removed from a recently retired fleet of Boeing 747 jets before they were flown to the Californian desert. In addition to the cart itself, each includes 40 mini bottles each of red and white wine, one bottle of Champagne, two business-class amenity kits, one first-class Sheridan cotton throw blanket and two Qantas business-class sleeper suits.

Up for grabs are 1,000 mobile liquor cabinets, mostly half-bar carts and a small number of full-size carts with double the number of items. Half-bar carts cost $947.70 including delivery, or 169,000 Qantas points, and full-size carts cost $1,474.70 including delivery, or 256,000 Qantas points. Delivery is only available in Australia, specifically to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

“These pre-loved carts served Qantas and our customers well during their world travels from London and Los Angeles to Singapore and Santiago, with each one averaging around 2,000 flights,” said Paul Capps, Qantas executive manager of product and service, in a press release. “While we no longer have use for them, they still have life in them, especially for those with an appreciation for aviation collectibles and an eye for design.”

The retired 747s the carts come from were, as a fleet, known as the “Queen of the Skies” and operated for close to 50 years before going into early retirement as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “The farewell of the last Qantas 747 in July inspired an outpouring of affection and nostalgia from the Australian public,” the press release said, adding that the carts offer a unique memento “at a time when travel [is] out of reach for many.”