Sad: Iconic Jumbo Stay 747 Hotel Stockholm Arlanda Closes

Here’s some sad news for aviation geeks…

Jumbo Stay Hotel Stockholm Arlanda closes, files for bankruptcy

Jumbo Stay is a hotel (or hostel, depending on how you look at it) located near Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN), which opened back in 2009. As an aviation geek, I love a good airport hotel, but this property really takes it to the next level.

The hotel is housed in a Boeing 747-200 (which was produced in 1976, and flew for Singapore Airlines), and features a total of 76 beds, spread across 33 rooms. Some rooms are hostel-style, with up to four beds each, while some have private accommodations, like Jumbo Stay’s famous cockpit suite.

For those who have been considering a stay here, there’s some bad news, unfortunately — Jumbo Stay has closed as of March 17, 2025, after having filed for bankruptcy, and has no plans to reopen. The hotel has had to cancel 800 upcoming reservations. How sad, especially given that it has been in operation for over 15 years.

I regret that I never had the chance to stay here. I did have a couple of cool aviation geek hotel experiences last year in Amsterdam, including staying at a hotel with a 747 out front, as well as staying in a 737 cockpit suite.

Why did Jumbo Stay Stockholm close?

So, why did Jumbo Stay suddenly close? Unfortunately revenue at the property decreased considerably over the years, from eight million SEK in 2019 (~793K USD), to four million SEK in 2023 (~396K USD). This is due to two factors, per the hotel’s owner:

• Increased competition, due to more hotels opening around the airport
• Loss of advertising rights at its location; according to the hotel’s founder and operator, “until five years ago, we could sell advertising space where the jumbo jet stands, then Swedavia took over the advertising sales”

While an attempt is being made to find a buyer, that seems like a challenge, given the financial situation. The other issue is that airport operator Swedavia has announced that it won’t lease the land to another operator, which makes any sort of a sale even more challenging.

If no progress is made, the plane is expected to be dismantled and sold for parts (which would basically just be scrap value of aluminum).

Bottom line

The famous Jumbo Stay hotel at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, housed in a Boeing 747, has closed. The hotel has seen revenue decrease by around 50% in the past five years, due to a combination of increased competition, plus the inability to advertise in the same way as before.

Did you ever have the chance to visit Jumbo Stay?