Interview: What To Expect In A $125,000 Private World Charter On An Exclusive 22-night Journey

For Abhishek Dadlani, founder of luxury travel brand Lushescapes, he wants to create “Impossible Moments”. The kind that you can’t Google, can’t book twice, and certainly can’t recreate. That forms the cusp of luxury for the Dubai-based entrepreneur who has just set a new benchmark in ultra-luxury travel with the launch of Meridian One, a fully private world charter Boeing 757, priced at a whopping USD 125,000 per guest!

It takes 40 guests on an invitation-only expedition across five continents and eight destinations. From a private charter cruise on the Peruvian side of the Amazon, a night ceremony in the dense Amazon Rainforest, a sunset ritual on Easter Island, a private dinner inside a historic mansion in Havana to a closed temple blessing followed by a farewell feast, in Northern Thailand, each stop taps into a different mood —adventure, wellness, heritage, spirituality, to culinary indulgence. And once you’re onboard, there’s an army of assistants backed with concierge-led services to ensure your smoother stay. And no, it’s not limited to taking care of your baggage and transfers, but extends to be served by a private chef, a private doctor and even a content creator on board to capture your picture-perfect moment, while you are off the grid, relaxing with your loved ones. “Meridian One was conceived for travellers who no longer measure luxury by square footage or star ratings,” says Dadlani as we meet him at Worldmark 2, Aerocity, to talk about the impending launch of the private world charter tailored for the UHNIs.

He calls it a world journey designed as a single experience rather than a collection of destinations that are “impossible to replicate independently”. And that was enough to get us off to a flying start!

Excerpts:

Q: What inspired the creation of Meridian One, and why is this the right time to launch it?

Meridian One is the flagship launch of our entire bouquet of programs that we have curated over the last two decades. It is absolutely out of the box, not just in terms of the luxury that it offers but also in terms of the experiential elements spread across five continents and eight destinations. We wanted to launch it as lately we are seeing a transcendent shift in the plethora of experiential activities that ultra-HMIs are taking in. Until now, if UHNIs were interested in world charter products, they used to fly to the US or Europe to begin their journey. The access was not available in close quarters. We wanted to cut that gap, paving the way for travellers in India and the Middle East to participate in this fascinating journey, starting from Dubai. So we are starting Meridian One, a 22-night, invitation-only expedition limited to just 40 guests. They will be travelling in an all lie-flat private Boeing 757 configuration across eight countries. The journey departs from Dubai on November 29 and returns on December 21, positioning the city at the forefront of next-generation, experience-led luxury travel.

And since all good things come with an element of exclusivity, we wanted to underpin that premise and make it only an annual world charter, not a recurring flight.

Q: Which are the places that guests will be travelling to in this 22-night expedition?

Eight destinations across five continents! The private charter routes guests from Dubai to Iceland, Cuba, the Peruvian Amazon, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Australia, Thailand, and back to Dubai, removing the friction of commercial travel while delivering a smooth journey. The highlights include a restricted-access geothermal ceremony at dawn in Iceland, a private dinner inside a historic mansion in Havana hosted by cultural historians and musicians, a private charter cruise on the Peruvian side of the Amazon, a night ceremony with indigenous people in the Amazon Rainforest, a sunset ritual at a restricted Moai site on Easter Island, overwater bungalow stay in Tahiti, a private dawn welcome on protected land in Australia’s Daintree rainforest, to a closed temple blessing followed by a farewell feast in Chiang Mai.

Each destination will offer something that touches the five senses to make it experiential luxury. Accommodation throughout the journey includes some of the world’s most discreet and prestigious properties, from the Blue Lagoon’s Retreat Hotel in Iceland to an Amazon river expedition aboard Zafiro, followed by handpicked luxury lodges and resorts across the Pacific and Asia.

Also Read: What Lies In The Future Of Indian Luxury? Experts Reveal

Q: How do you address jet lag during a 22-day journey?

We are not fast-tracking the journey in any manner. Every destination has a three-night stop for the guest to recover and rejuvenate. Also, there’s a gap of just three to four hours between every destination, allowing the body clock to adapt gradually. We have also planned wellness rituals onboard to let the guests relax.

Notably, we have made the itinerary on a westerly format, not an easterly format, to relieve jet lag. I have been doing a lot of long-haul destination experiential holidays for the last many years and noticed that when you are travelling westwards, the advent of jet lag is less vis-à-vis when you are travelling eastwards.

Q: Why was the jet Boeing 757 chosen?

Most private world charter journeys are done on narrow-body aircraft like the 737. But Boeing 757 is a larger aircraft. It offers a greater range with fewer fuel stops. Out of the nine journeys that we are having in Meridian One, six journeys are doable without even thinking of a fuel stop, even when the weather is not in our favour. Further, we have configured Boeing 757 in an all business class layout with flatbeds, curated meals, a private chef onboard and a multilingual crew for the highest level of comfort.

Q: Security and privacy are key in providing an exclusive experience. How is the safety of the guests ensured?

Security and safety are at the helm of everything we do. At each destination, we have local experts and a fleet of assistants that are going to be helping us in the journey. In addition to the two program directors who are travelling with the group, we have local staff and local ground handlers to assist guests at each destination. The terminals that we are using at all the airports are private terminals. All immigration, baggage and transfers are handled separately. We also have a private doctor onboard to meet any medical emergencies. Importantly, the experiences are privately curated and are not group-based. Once we have all the signups for the journey, we will have discovery sessions with every guest to understand more about their requirements and needs to be able to fully serve them.

To further add a touch of personalisation, we have a private chef travelling for 22 days and curating meals for all 40 guests while also taking care of the specific needs of each guest. Interestingly, to make the journey even more enriching, we have a content curator onboard for the guests so they can enjoy the journey at each destination, while the digital creator takes a stock of all your memories and moments and captures them perfectly. The pictures will then be published in the form of a coffee table book and presented to each family as memorabilia at the end of the journey.

Q: Why is the journey limited to just 40 guests while you have more seating capacity in a private charter?

That’s a good question (smiles)! Although the aircraft has 50 business class seats, we wanted a high director-to-guest ratio. With 3–4 program directors accompanying the journey, this ensures a 1:10 support ratio for a deeply personal experience. So every 10 guests will have at least one person to look after them and guide in the journey.

Q: Why begin the journey in Dubai?

There are several reasons. Firstly, Dubai is synonymous with luxury. Secondly, if you see geograhically, Dubai is just an extension of India, as it’s a two-to three-hour flight from any of the big cities in India. Also, we have a lot of the Indian diaspora is settled in the Middle East. Because of all these factors, we feel that it is just an extended arm of India. Dubai also provides a good logistics support. It has a separate terminal for private charter aircraft and has robust connectivity from all across the region in the Indian subcontinent.

Dubai is also chosen because of the target audience, which is predominantly Indians but we are also getting a lot of interest from the Saudis, Qataris, and Bahrainis, making it an ideal starting point.

Q: How has the idea of luxury evolved over the last decade in the hospitality sector?

About 15–20 years ago, luxury was defined by price. People used to look at it with the dollar value attached to it, making it heavily commoditised. For instance, staying in a $1,000 per night room in the Oberoi’s or at the Four Seasons property was luxury where people could flex the price tag.

Now, the idea of luxury has evolved to become more aspirational and experiential. It is no longer a question of what you spend but what you return with, personally and emotionally.