Ceausescu’s Last Jet Goes Under Hammer in Romania

An online auction on May 27 by Bucharest's bidding house Artmark will give collectors a rare opportunity to acquire an object that perfectly embodies these two features of the regime.

A file photo dated December 1981 of former Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu (R) and his wife Elena during their 1981 winter holidays at one of their residences in Bucharest. Archive photo: EPA PHOTO ROMPRESS/FILES (B/W ONLY)

With a starting price of 25,000 euros, the plane that Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu used between 1986 and their execution in the 1989 revolution to travel round Romania and the world is going under the hammer - part of the liquidation of the assets of Romania's defunct aviation company, Romavia.

"It is a conservative price," Alina Panico, public relations manager at Artmark, told BIRN about the aircraft, which was named Super One Eleven and has been declared part of Romania's mobile heritage and is being sold by the Ministry of Culture. 

"This is a precious piece whose value will only grow over time, and our experts estimate that the final price will probably reach 100,000 euros," the spokesperson added.

Ceausescu's presidential plane might be attractive to buyers from several points of view. The aircraft is part of global recent history, as it was intimately linked to one of the world's most iconic tyrants. 

With a capacity for 119 passengers, the ROMBAC 1-11 was built in a Romanian factory under a Rolls Royce licence that Ceausescu acquired from the UK, and which swelled the pride of a dictatorial couple notorious for their obsession with their country's self-sufficiency and glory.

The presidential plane of Nicolae Ceaucescu photographed at the military air base were it is kept. Photo:...