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By Kennebec Journal Staff report June 04, 2008 04:41 PM
Someone is traveling in style.
A large jet arrived at the Augusta State Airport Tuesday morning.
The magnificent Bombardier, with an olive green and scarlet banner on the tail, was a pleasant and unusual surprise at the airport, Maine Instrument Flight President Bill Perry said.
“It’s one of the larger models that’s landed here,” Perry said.
The jet, registered as LX-PAK, belongs to His Highness Prince Karim al-Hussayni Aga Khan, according to the Web site www.planepictures.net, which identifies the aircraft as having the same registration number as the jet at the airport.
The jet’s formal name is listed as the Aga-Khan Bombardier BD-700 Global Express.
Best known as the Aga Khan, the prince has served as the spiritual leader of several million Muslims worldwide since 1957, his Web site said.
Though Maine Instrument Flight did not confirm the identities or number of people on board, Perry said the visitors are “from overseas. Honestly, I don’t know why they’re here.”
Perry also did not know when the visitors were leaving.
The plane is registered as being based in France, where the prince, 71, currently resides.
The Aga Khan has quite a few Maine connections.
In 2006, former Bowdoin College Dean of Student Affairs Craig Bradley, announced his resignation from his post at the college to move to France to take a position with the Aga Khan Development Network developing schools and academies.
In an e-mail, Bradley said he was unaware of the Aga Khan’s whereabouts Tuesday and did not know if he was in the United States.
Bradley is not the only Bowdoin College connection the Aga Khan has. His Highness also serves as a chancellor of the Board of Trustees of Aga Khan University, of which former Bowdoin College President Emeritus Robert H. Edwards is also a member.
A woman who answered the phone at Edwards’ residence Wednesday said Edwards is currently “away for a few days,” and could not be reached for comment.
The Aga Khan, called an imam by Muslim communities, considers himself a modern Muslim leader, according to his Web site. His followers live in over 25 countries around the world.