Diners Eat Inside An Airplane At This McDonald’s In New Zealand

It became one of the coolest McDonald's restaurants ever.

This airplane can accommodate 20 diners who want to enjoy their burgers and fries in a totally different setting.
Food is ordered from the McDonald’s restaurant next door.
An Instagram-worthy area beneath the nose of the plane was added for tourists.

In Taupo, New Zealand, there is a decommissioned Douglas DC-3 plane where you can see people coming in and out for “airplane food.” Nope, it’s not what you think – in this case, airplane food refers to McDonald’s and the DC-3 is actually a dining room in one of the coolest McDonald’s restaurants ever.

Located in the small resort town on the North Island, this airplane can accommodate 20 diners who want to enjoy their burgers and fries in a totally different setting.

The food cannot be ordered right from the plane – diners have to do that in an actual McDonald’s next door – but it’s really a very small effort for the novelty of eating inside the aircraft, which still has its original cockpit behind glass doors.

The plane’s exterior itself is emblazoned with the McDonald’s logo. The aircraft has been in this spot for more than 30 years and it used to advertise the Aeroplane Car Company, a car dealership. In 1990, it was bought by McDonald’s and made part of the restaurant.

The owners, Eileen Byrne and her husband Des, have had this McDonald’s since 2000. They have been franchises of the fastfood chain since 1995. The couple were “thrilled” when their found restaurant was included in the Daily Meal’s list of the world’s coolest McDonald’s in 2013.

The plane was built in California in 1943, according to Byrne. It started its job as a passenger plane in Australia until 1961. After being used for several roles, it was finally retired in 1984. Most of the plane’s parts still remains intact. Ten two-top tables have been added as well as the Golden Arches.

This McDonald’s has since become a big tourist draw.

“We got a lot of publicity from all over the world and our locals are very proud of it. It has become a landmark here in New Zealand,” said Byrne. She and Des even added an area beneath the nose of the plane specifically for visitors who want to take Instagram-worthy photos.

Byrne said that tourists have been lining up to take photos and that the plane has been featured in a Japanese tourism video and even on Chinese TV.