It’s no secret that Burning Man, an event famed for its post-economic, money-free ethos, has became a place with a rapidly growing contingent of people who have a shit ton of money. Not only do they have it, but they’re flaunting it. In the last few years, billionaire white dudes like Google’s Larry Page and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have been spotted getting dusty on the playa, joined in camps by a who’s who of Silicon Valley peeps, as well as their own personal shamans (true story). Now the ballerdom being flaunted on The Playa has reached new levels of excess—you can take a fucking private plane directly to your camp of tech executives.
For anyone who’s made the voyage to Black Rock City before, you’ll know that the journey isn’t an easy one, with miles of traffic, gas lines, and yes, more dust than you can imagine. But now, if you have $2,199 to spare, that all can change.
Videos by VICE
Fittingly monikered Santa Monica-based company Burner Air will this year be offering direct, private flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Reno, that will deliver patrons directly to their Burning Man camp within minutes of their landing in Black Rock City. According to the Burner Air website, flights are Burning Man approved, and all their pilots are “super cool.”
“Our flights land on the playa at Black Rock City Airport so you can be at your camp within minutes of landing. Burning Man flights start at $599 and are a great way for Theme Camps to fly to Burning Man. Avoid the traffic and travel in style,” says Burner Air’s website. They even have the catchy tagline: “Burner Air is the fastest way to burn.”
For many of the wacky veteran attendees that made Burning Man into the pinnacle of counter-culture that it is today, the thought of rich people circumnavigating the traffic they all experience every year and showing up in a private plane will probably strike a sour cord, or perhaps its the type of change the devotees behind the event have come to accept. Under the festival’s own ‘Getting There and Back’ section of their website, the heinous traffic that takes place each year is referenced: “While it’s been said “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey,” at Burning Man, we think it’s a little of both.” Something tells us their reference of carpooling, prohibited items, and other more obvious travel tips, doesn’t quite fall into the same league as hopping a Pilatus PC-12 plane to The Burn.
Now the only question is, what exactly will be inside the salted peanuts they serve on board?
Head to Burner Air for more info and happy flying, or burning, you get the idea.
David won’t be going to Burning Man, but if he was he’d probably take a hot air balloon. Follow him on Twitter.
