Enterprising Palestinian twins turn Boeing 707 into a restaurant

Two brothers from Nablus bought a decommissioned jet from Israel in 1999 and have worked for 20 years to turn it into a unique eatery for West Bank residents. WATCH

PALESTINIAN WORKERS IN the West Bank are putting the final touches on a decommissioned Boeing 707 aircraft to ready it for a new kind of takeoff: as a restaurant.

Its enterprising owners, 60-year-old twin brothers Ata and Khamis al-Sairafi, expect to welcome their first customers within weeks at the site in an isolated mountain area near Nablus.

Inside the old jet's cabin, the seats have been stripped out and the window panes removed. Tables will soon be fitted in the fuselage, which has been painted white with laminate wooden floors.

The brothers plan to call their aviation-themed eatery - which is decorated with Palestinian and Jordanian flags - "the Palestinian-Jordanian Airline Restaurant and Coffee Shop Al-Sairafi Nablus".

"We will start by providing hookahs," said Khamis, for people who enjoy smoking tobacco through water pipes, before later expanding the business into an event space. "The cockpit will be a suitable place for any newlyweds who come to us for their wedding ceremony."

FULL STORY Buckle up: Palestinian twins turn Boeing 707 into restaurant (Ynet)

Photo: Boeing 707 aircraft that has been converted into 'Palestinian-Jordanian Airline Restaurant and Coffee Shop Al-Sairafi Nablus' (Photo: AFP)