Configured for both corporate and personal use, the plane's interior turned more luxurious toward the tail.

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The plane's racy design, smooth fiberglass-composite body, BMW-like interior, dazzling computer instrumentation and an onboard parachute ready to float both the plane and passengers to a life-saving landing, if necessary, formed a clean break from the past.

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Mr Babitsky was flown from Dagestan on Monday night on a plane he said he believed belonged to the Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo.

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As interior minister, Mr Sarkozy played the tough guy: putting illegal immigrants on the plane home, evacuating clandestine squats and clamping down on prostitution.

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In most airports, you are hustled off the plane and up stairs, down escalators, around corners, and along endless low-ceilinged, interior corridors before you have the privilege of standing in a line to show your passport.

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