The costs of aircraft are astronomical anyway!
You could buy a new 747 for about $160mil, or you could buy a 20 year old one for $5mil (or £1 from BA a few years back) and kitting it out with doors etc would surely cost less than a further $155mil...
Anyways, it does indeed look like the plan for the hold is a non-starter, however some bright-spark has already invented an alternative! The 747-8 VIP, complete with SkyLoft! It gives that extra space (taking it upto within a whiff of the size of an A380) and doesn't have to worry about cutting new doors into the fuselage. Winner.
Oh and whoever mentioned above about baggage - my plan doesn't need bags.
All I need now is $200,000,000. Anyone has this, or a 747, please, don't hesistate to contact me
I'm actually constructing a business plan to put forward to Virgin, they look like the only financially viable option.
Are you planning on short flights? Where do you put the carry on baggage, everyone has some? Unless you are flying hight limited people your "business plan" is not a great idea.
Retrofitting a 747 to supply environmentaly comfortable temperatures in the belly is a task beyond my immagination. I know the FWD belly of some DC-10's possibly the tristar and 747 has been used for a galley in the past but comfort was not in mind.
A bit of aviation financials, the longer the aircraft is designed to fly usually relates to less cycles to get the most out of it, this works against your idea.
To create a cabin environment in a cargo area is costly, would require costly modifications...,locking provisions for the cargo doors in excess of existing, environmental as mentioned above and the killer... Egress is the other factor, there are strict time limits relating to how quickly the pax can get out of an aircraft... Ohh, ditching, gear failure, runway overshot... All these scenarios pretty much kill your belly pax.
I just don't see it ever happening.
Not to mention that the only reason the 747 never went full double decker was the regulatory fears of killing 600+ pax in one shot by the FAA. The A380 still stands to fail as it has a limited market and several customers have allready pulled out.
Being the businesman you are I would think you would be careful not to devuldge your "business plan", doubt you have one as I can not immagine a market for for your idea that has undoubtebly been pondered for decades.