Oasis May Buy Jet

11/12/08 1:06pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

Oasis are pondering buying their own jet, according to Noel Gallagher.

"We're making serious enquiries as to how much one of these private jets cost," the British songwriter and guitarist wrote on the band's website. "We think with a bit of creative accounting, we could probably afford one."

But Diddy, whose business ventures likely make him more wealthy than the Gallagher brothers, recently claimed that he can't afford to fuel the jet he partially owns. Even small jets cost up to $10 million, so it's not a small investment — particularly with the wildly fluctuating oil prices we've seen this year and banks not lending money as freely as they once did.

Gallagher realizes that the world economy isn't in the best shape, so he has an appropriate name ready for the plane.

"We've christened ours 'The Credit-Crunch?' — It's the only way to fly, y'know?"

Oasis got a taste of the good life by chartering private jets to get to some dates on their just-completed tour, but rental costs can also spiral up pretty quickly.

Having their own plane would mean the band could avoid people like the passenger Noel met on the Eurostar when returning to London from their tour-ending concert in Paris via the English Channel tunnel on Tuesday.

"There's a man on this train who's just pulled out a rather large book called '101 Great Breads'!!," wrote Noel in his most recent blog entry. "Wow... he must be a chef of some description, eh?"

Having their own plane would mean the band could also vet who gets on board, so there wouldn't be worries about attacks by crazed fans.

It would also give Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher another flight option. Noel's younger brother was banned for life from Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific airline 10 years ago after travellers on a flight from Hong Kong to Perth, Australia complained that the band members smoked, swore and threw things at crew members and passengers. The captain threatened to divert the plane and force the group and their 30-member entourage to disembark, and that police would be waiting for them when they landed.

Police also launched an investigation in 2001 after Liam allegedly groped a female crew member while boarding a British Airways flight from London to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.