The plane enthusiast has set 8 March as the opening date, the same day as his 51st birthday and International Women’s Day

MANILA (AFP) — Hundreds of Boeing 737 MAX planes are grounded around the world while a flaw in the aircraft model’s flight control system is being fixed by its manufacturer. Meantime, the situation is not only causing airlines using the plane huge losses but also parking nightmares for Boeing factories as completed planes cannot be delivered to buyers yet.

Airlines are hoping the fix will not cause further crashes. However, if worse comes to worst and the plane model should be grounded forever, plane owners can take the cue from creative guys like Croatian construction engineer Robert Sedlar to spare their very expensive flying machines from the graveyard.

Sedlar, 50, and his friends have a retired Fokker-100 plane parked in a home in the village of Strmec Stubicki. They are renting it out for all sorts of events and parties like weddings and birthdays.

He told AFP that “parking” a plane next to his house in the village of 760 inhabitants was an “idea from his childhood, born out of a love for planes.”

The aircraft, built to carry 100 passengers, is currently stripped of all seats, engines and cockpit equipment. All that remains are the throttles.

Getting the plane from Osijek airport, 340 kilometers from the village, was a big operation.

“Because of its exceptional dimensions, a span of 28 meters and a length of 34.5 meters, we had to break it down into several pieces to transport it,” Sedlar said.

It took six weekends to break down the plane and five days to transport it.

“Now, we reconstruct it, we will repair the damaged parts of the hull, before painting it… In the cockpit, we will put two flight simulators,” he said.

The plane enthusiast has set 8 March as the opening date, the same day as his 51st birthday and International Women’s Day.

For early customers to the unique venue, their boarding party will likely be a blast.