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Tuesday, 27 November, 2001, 11:52 GMT

'Come fly' with Ministry of Sound


Clubbers may be raving over Australia
Clubbers could be raving over Australia
Club owners Ministry of Sound are hoping to launch the world's first airborne nightclub.

They are in talks with collapsed Australian airline Ansett about buying four of their planes.

The company had originally planned to begin an airline in Europe but said the Ansett collapse had provided a good opportunity to acquire high quality planes and staff, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The planes would be specially modified to recreate the atmosphere of a club.



It would take a lot of careful consideration
Australian deputy PM John Anderson

The club owners said they would start the flights in Australia and hope to expand them to overseas in the future.

The club's commercial brand director Richard Mergler said: "We're going to be doing Sydney-Melbourne to begin with.

"You will fly from Sydney to Melbourne late in the evening, there will be DJs on board, special DJ decks will have been installed into where the business seats were."

Ministry of Sound at the Millennium Dome
Australia's Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson said he was uncertain about what safety requirements would be needed for the night flights.

"That would take a lot of very careful consideration, I don't think they would get an AOC (Air Operators Certificate) overnight, put it that way," he said.

Huge debts forced Ansett into voluntary administration in September.

Formerly Australia's second-biggest airline, they had to ground their fleet and lay off over 16,000 of their staff.

New Year

The Ministry of Sound is one of the world's biggest and most well-known dance music companies.

They are preparing for their second New Year's Eve party at the Millennium Dome.

Over 18,000 clubbers packed the site outside the Dome at last year's event and the club are hoping to put on an bigger event this time round.

This year's party will be held inside the Dome for the first time, and will have four arenas with more than 50 DJs playing over the 14-hour event.


Related to this story:
Ministering to the lame (25 Oct 00 | UK) CD: Review: Clubber's Guide to ... 2001 (07 Jan 01 | New Music Releases) Ansett finds a buyer (08 Nov 01 | Business) Ansett administrator quits (17 Sep 01 | Business)


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