Hollywood Studio Owner Wants to Land a Pan Am Double-decker 747 on Vegas Strip

Posted on: September 4, 2017, 06:00h. 

Last updated on: September 4, 2017, 05:48h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

A Pan Am double-decker 747 could be winging its way to Vegas, if Hollywood film studio owner Talaat Captan has his way.

Captan, CEO of studio Air Hollywood, which provides movies with airplane sets, is trying to convince casino operators on the Las Vegas Strip that his retro-aviatic dining experience will be the next big thing in high-end non-gaming attractions.

He and his business partner Anthony Toth have not only rebuilt a Pan Am double-decker 747 but they have also turned it into a time machine, recreating the experience of flying in one back in the 1970s, right down to the perfume of the air stewardesses.

Although it doesn’t actually fly.

Instead, its creators envisage it as dinner theater: pilots and stewardesses dressed in seventies uniforms interact with guests, who dine on five courses of classic gourmet seventies food and drink, like black caviar, shrimp, chateaubriand and vodka, all of which is plucked straight from an authentic seventies Pan Am menu.

Guests can also read authentic seventies magazines, play “aviation-related trivia games” and watch a fashion show in which airline staff demonstrate Pan Am uniforms throughout the airline’s history.

Time Machine

“Pan Am set the standard for aviation luxury, service and traveling the world. There was no comparison at that time,”.Captan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“We bring you back 40 years,” he said. “You are going to scent cologne and perfume that reminds you of your grandparents.”

The whole thing would last three hours and a ticket would be yours for $300. Which begs the question, while the plane may be stationary, will the idea fly?

For a start, at a time when Vegas is filling up with virtual reality zombie fighting experiences aimed at attracting the millennial generation, this one seems a bit niche. It’s also one of the priciest events in Vegas, and then there’s question of the amount of space needed, all 15,000 square feet of it.

Flight of Fancy?

Captan says Caesars has offered 10,000 square feet, an offer he was forced to refuse, although he is in currently in talks with another operator.

But is there a market for wealthy aviation enthusiasts with a penchant for their grandparents’ cologne?

Captan believes there is.

“Our client is mature, has been around the world and knows what Pan Am is,” he says. “This experience is a luxury and is targeted toward people that stay at high-end hotels. People that have money want to do something different.”