Harrington buys private jet

Padraig Harrington has finally joined the jet-set and snapped up a second-hand private jet for an estimated $2m.

The Dubliner (39) has been looking for a jet for several years to ease the pain of his frequent transatlantic trips to play on the US PGA Tour.

Now he’s taken advantage of the global economic crisis to get his hands on a 1986-built, 13-seater Gulfstream G3, originally priced at $3.9m.

The jet in its hangar at Weston Executive Airport near DublinHarrington hoped to buy a jet following his major wins in 2007 and 2008 but was put off by the expense.

In June 2009, Harrington said: “Warren Buffett calls his plane ‘The Great Unjustifiable’ and I don’t think I will be able to justify it either.

“I am still saving and the market is very good for that now. So even though the airplane market has fallen in price by the guts of 40 percent,  everyone has a different outlook on risk now.

“While it is probably a good time to buy and the market has come down, I am a bit more risk averse than I would have been a year ago.

“I might have bought a plane for more money a year ago with what I have now, but I am a bit more sceptical now because of the global market.”

The worldwide economic crisis has worsened considerably since then and Harrington couldn’t resist the opportunity to get in at the bottom of the market.

However, the biggest expense association with jets it not just their price but the cost of servicing and fuelling them.

The price of jet fuel, which is now $2.99 a gallon in the US, has soared 58 percent since last summer’s lows of $1.89 a gallon.

Harrington has already made good use of his new purchase, arriving home to Dublin early yesterday, less than 12 hours after his first round defeat to Geoff Ogilvy in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.