A Saudi billionaire was named today as the first private buyer of an A380 superjumbo, the world's largest passenger aircraft.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who is at No 13 on the Forbes list of global billionaires, is already the only private owner of a Boeing 747-400, the top-of-the-range jumbo, but has apparently decided that he needs just a little bit more legroom.

The A380, which entered service with Singapore Airlines last month, can seat 525 passengers in its usual three-class configuration, although it could handle up to 800 in an all-economy layout.

Prince Alwaleed has ordered the VIP version – dubbed the Flying Palace – which features 551 square metres of usable floor space on twin passenger decks, enough for a couple of tennis courts.

There had been widespread speculation in the aviation world that an individual had bought an A-380, although Prince Alwaleed's identity had been kept secret until an announcement at the Dubai Air Show this morning.

The ordinary passenger edition of the A380 sells for over $300 million (£150 million) but the price of the special-edition aircraft was not disclosed. The A380 can be fitted with cocktail bars, casinos, showers and sleeping quarters for first class passengers on ordinary airlines. For the super rich, the sky is the limit.

“It would depend very much on what sort of cabin interior the purchaser wanted,” an Airbus official said. “On our VIP jets we offer the option to include whatever they want.”

Prince Alwaleed is the founder of the Kingdom Holding Company, which has total assets of around $25 billion. His interests include stakes in Euro Disney as well as in hotels and banking.

Altogether Airbus and its global rival, Boeing, have announced sales worth nearly $80 billion, powered by demand from Gulf Arab states. Airbus is ahead in the annual battle for orders after signing the largest-ever single aircraft order – at least 70 mid-sized A350s and 11 A380s – to the Dubai-based Emirates Airline.

Today Dubai Aerospace Enterprise signed letters of intent for 100 planes from each maker, among them 30 A350s and 30 large Boeing models including the 787, 777 and 747-8 freighter.

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