Gold Taps and Towel Racks: How a Plane Used by Turkmenistan’s Ruling Family Got a Royal Makeover

On December 6, 2023, a Boeing 737 bearing the green-and-white livery of Turkmenistan Airlines flew out of Ashgabat on a one-way trip to the United States. 

A year later, the plane returned to Turkmenistan — having undergone a glamorous makeover. What had been a standard passenger jet with 118 economy seats came home a princess, with gold-plated fixtures, a private shower, and traditional Turkmen ornamentation.

And while the plane had previously been part of the state-owned airline’s small fleet of Boeings, ferrying passengers between Turkmenistan and cities like Istanbul and Minsk, it is now reserved for elite use. Flight records suggest it has joined a fleet of four other VIP-configured aircraft used by Turkmenistan’s ruling family, the Berdimuhamedovs.

OCCRP and its partners at Turkmen.News and Gundogar learned of the Boeing’s luxury conversion after noticing the jet in photographs of the ruling family’s travels, then reconstructing its flight history. 

Shortly after flying out of Turkmenistan in 2023, it turns out, the Boeing resurfaced at Chennault International Airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The small city in the southern U.S. is home to Citadel Completions, a boutique American firm specializing in luxury aircraft redesigns. In advertisements, it boasts of producing “bespoke interiors for the most discerning clientele.”  

Citadel Completions received official authorization from Turkmenistan’s Civil Aviation Authority in 2023 to provide services for Turkmenistan Airlines, according to a document posted on Citadel’s website.

In July 2024, Citadel Completions posted an image on its Instagram page showing a Boeing 737 undergoing work in its hangar, painted in the green-and-white livery of Turkmenistan Airlines. The post described Citadel’s “unmatched care” in tailoring aircraft to client needs.

Even more details were revealed on the personal website of Connor Oliver Weisent, Citadel’s manager of interior design. 

Weisent posted several 3D renderings of what appears to be the same Boeing 737 to his online portfolio, referring to the project as “Head of State BBJ [Boeing Business Jet].” Two of the images included gold-plated versions of Turkmenistan’s presidential seal. 

The rest of the plane’s interior featured ultra-luxurious Central Asian decorative touches, including geometric ceiling lighting, custom traditional Turkmen carpeting, and sculptures of Akhal-Teke horses — a traditional symbol of Turkmenistan. Weisent also posted a selfie of himself in an airplane bathroom that matched one of the renderings, suggesting the plane had actually undergone the projected makeover.

Citadel Completions did not respond to requests for comment. All images of the “Head of State BBJ” project were deleted from Weisent’s website after reporters reached out to him for comment in September. 

Citadel’s senior vice president of operations told Forbes magazine in a 2023 article about the company that a full luxury “completion” can cost up to $140 million, depending on the plane and the level of finish desired by the customer.

“Building a ‘palace in the sky’ is quite complex,” the executive, Neil J. Boyle, told Forbes at the time. “The owners of such aircraft are very protective, very private. There’s a lot you can’t say about them publicly.”

Turkmen civil aviation authorities refused to comment on the project or its price tag, but Turkmenistan’s own procurement record provides some clues to how much a VIP plane reconfiguration can cost. 

Then-President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree in 2008 permitting Turkmenistan’s Civil Aviation Authority to purchase a Boeing 737-700 for $55 million, and to pay another $21 million to a Texas-based aircraft interior design firm for a VIP refit, according to a document obtained by OCCRP. Both bills were to be paid by Turkmenistan’s national gas company, Turkmengaz, the document said.

In 2017, Berdimuhamedov gave permission to pay over $32 million from the state budget to another Texas-based aircraft interior design firm for work on yet another Boeing 737 in the presidential fleet. And in 2022, Turkmenistan’s Civil Aviation Authority purchased two Sikorsky S-92 helicopters for $40 million each, then spent $26 million per helicopter on refits. 

A Fifth Boeing Joins a Rarified Fleet

After being refurbished in Louisiana, the ultra-luxe Boeing — now registered as EZ-A010— appears to have entered service as part of a fleet of VIP-configured aircraft flying the Berdimuhamedov family around the world. Although the planes continue to be operated by Turkmenistan Airlines, there is no evidence that they are regularly used by anyone but the Berdimuhamedovs.

The family patriarch, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, became Turkmenistan’s president in 2006 and ruled with an iron grip before ceding some authority to his son, Serdar, after elections in 2022, which took place without the participation of international observers. Berdimuhamedov has been accused of creating a cult of personality around himself and his family. 

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and his son could not be reached for comment, and questions for them sent to the Turkmen Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not receive a response.

The newest plane, EZ-A010, is now being used on key occasions by Oguljahan Atabayeva, the eldest daughter of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the sister of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

Until late last year, Atabayeva had stayed largely out of the public eye, working as a mid-level diplomat in London. Her emergence as a more significant public figure this year — complete with the use of a luxury jet — appears to have been carefully plotted out.  

On December 7, 2024, she appeared on Turkmen state television, where her father publicly appointed her vice president for medical affairs of the charitable foundation that bears his name.

Five days later, her brother awarded her the “Argadag Medal,” named in honor of the respectful epithet their father is commonly known by. (“Arkadag” means “protector” in the Turkmen language.) He publicly praised her “significant contribution” to social policy and “commitment to protecting the rights of those in need of care.”

Since then, Atabayeva has become a fixture of the evening news. She inspects hospitals, hosts international events and, unlike most Turkmen officials, has even spoken to foreign media. Asked for comment on the new airplane and her growing role in Turkmen public life, Atabayeva responded by saying, “Hello,” but did not answer any questions.

In April 2025, EZ-A010 carried Atabayeva to Monaco for a meeting with Prince Albert II. The visit was portrayed by Turkmen state media as a cultural and diplomatic success. Footage published on Instagram by Turkmenistan’s embassy in France showed Atabayeva disembarking from an elegant, gleaming aircraft at Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, to the applause of beaming diplomats.

In mid-July, she flew to Baku along with her father for a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. But it seems the pair did not travel together. 

Instead, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took his own Boeing 777, EZ-A777, while his daughter appears to have flown on the newly renovated EZ-A010, based on the appearance of both jets on the tarmac at Baku — underscoring how her rise in public life has been matched by the aircraft’s new role within the family’s state-funded fleet. 

Research and data expertise was provided on this story by OCCRP’s Research and Data Team.