Hamburg - Lufthansa is expanding a plant in Germany that remodels wide-bodied jets for use by billionaires as flying homes, the German airline said Thursday.

Demand for individually styled big aircraft had been soaring, Lufthansa's Technik division said.

The plant in Hamburg is not the city's only address for the super- rich who want gold-plated taps and the softest beds when they travel. Some of the world's most expensive super-yachts come from a dockyard in the city.

Currently the plane workshop can handle two conversions simultaneously, but is to step up capacity by 2010 to three jets at the same time.

It said it had contracts running till 2018 involving conversions of two Airbus A330 and two A340 jets as well as three Boeing 747-8 and three Boeing 787-8 planes and was bidding to convert 11 other Boeings.

Each conversion of a plane, with bedrooms, luxury lounges and space for staff, takes about a year.

Some of the planes are used as flying offices by prime ministers. Lufthansa Technik said the current strong demand in the sector was driven by the need to replace existing government jets, many of which were 30 years old or more.

Lufthansa Technik is a wholly owned subsidiary of the airline and has 25,000 staff and 30 operating sites.

Its main business is maintenance of airliners during stopovers. (dpa)