Video/Gallery: Airbus A320 lands in Bury St Edmunds ready to be upcycled into a garden pod

An A320 Airbus is not the usual mode of transport you would expect to see arriving in the rural market town of Bury St Edmunds.

But it could become a regular occurrence now that an innovative new business has set up in the area.

The company DappR Aviation Ltd, on Western Way, creates garden offices and furniture using obsolete aviation parts.

Yesterday, they took delivery of a large section of an A320 Airbus fuselage measuring more than 14 metres long and four metres wide – designed to seat up to 180 passengers – which arrived on the back of a huge lorry.

The plan is to convert the aricraft, which would otherwise have been scrapped, into unique garden buildings or ‘pods’. In addition to the fuselage the company plans to recycle and refashion a multitude of other aircraft components into distinctive furniture.

David Palmer, the company’s managing director said: “We already have a wide range of beautifully engineered parts including nose cones, wing flaps, reverse thrusters and cockpit windows.

“We even have the rudder from an Airbus all the way from Vladivostok in far eastern Russia.

“People are inspired and excited by flying; aviation grade is a byword for high quality engineering and raw materials.

“But nobody would say flying is environmentally friendly and, at the end of their lives, planes are either abandoned in the desert or scrapped. We have a great opportunity to turn disused planes into exciting things.”

Mr Palmer, who also runs an IT recycling company We Want Your IT had the idea when he was asked if he could recycle aircraft electronics.

He soon realised that the aircraft itself could also be reused.

The company’s signature product will be the DappR Aeropod.

Mr Palmer continued: “We can take the fuselage and make fantastically well engineered buildings; they are fully insulated, made from aviation grade aluminium and designed to fly at 30,000 feet.”

The pods, which are fully insulated and can have under floor heating, electricity and water installed, can be used as a garden office, an outdoor kitchen complete with aircraft ‘galley’, a pool-side relaxation area or the ultimate “man cave”.

The first prototype Aeropod is expected to be created within the next week or so and the company is confident there will be no shortage of buyers.

Mr Palmer added: “We’ve already been asked if we could make a double pod and fit it out as a home cinema.”

For anyone curious to see the results, the company is holding two open days at its premises on June 6 and 7.

In the meantime visit dappr-aviation.com