Private jet lands in South of France for Cannes billionaire holiday turned back during coronavirus lockdown. How the rich seek to skirt/break rules for the common man.
‘I have money, let’s talk….’
The above are words one of the six billionaire passengers told French national authorities after having landed their private jet in the South of France for ‘upcoming spring plans’ despite entreaties to return back to London.
Reports told of a group of billionaires and young women who flew into France on a private jet last Satuday, defying coronavirus lockdown, being turned back after a standoff on the tarmac.
The aircraft, from London, carried seven men, all in their 40s and 50s, and three women, in their mid-20s. A Croatian national – one of the men on board – organized the trip.
The private jet used by the groups was an Embraer Legacy 600 – a Brazil made luxury business jet, which costs around £5million ($6.3 USD million).
The ‘interception’ occurred as police were waiting at France’s Marseille-Provence airport to turn the jet back before any passengers could disembark. Police had asked the plane not to land, only for the billionaire private jet to defy air control tower orders and land anyway.
Waiting at the tarmac for the ‘distinguished’ guests were three helicopters which had been booked to ’whisk’ passengers to a non disclosed villa in Cannes the UK’s Guardian reports.
The helicopters were eventually forced on their way without their ‘special clientele’.
But it gets better …
‘I have money, let’s talk bixch ….’
A policeman told the Daily Mail that, when confronted, the Croatian national said, ‘I have money, let’s talk.’
He tried to reason with the police, telling them he had been ‘looking forward to the break, with his friends and young female escorts.’
‘He said they all go to the villa, and lockdown there, and that there would be no problem,’ the policeman said. ‘But it was obviously a recreational trip, and under the containment measures these are strictly prohibited.’
The source said the Croatian had ‘paid for everything,’ including the villa and plane, and had been ‘looking forward to the break, with his friends and young female escorts.’
A stand-off continued on the tarmac for three hours before police were able to send most of the party back to London. One member of the party flew on to Berlin.
‘They maybe thought they’d get a fine but would be able to get to their destination,’ a police official told Bloomberg.com. ‘But things didn’t turn out that way.’
The only fines issued were to the three French helicopter pilots. The holiday party did not technically enter France, as they were kept on the plane while being interviewed by police.
All non-essential travel inside France has been banned since 17 March and a recent tightening of the restrictions means anyone entering the country should hold an international travel certificate showing the journey is essential.
While most people have struggled with the lockdowns – trying to work from home while homeschooling the kids – the rich and famous have had a different experience, with some finding rather ostentatious interesting ways to entertain themselves.
The King of Thailand self-quarantined while vacationing in Germany. He booked an entire hotel in an Alpine resort town, bringing along an entourage of 20 concubines and some servants.
Similarly, Manchester City soccer star Kyle Walker was caught having a ‘lockdown party.’ The party consisted of himself and two sex workers.
He later apologized for the incident.
To date the identities of the South of France rules skirting billionaires and their female ‘companions’ have not been revealed.
