Aeroplane Bar Letka Tu-104

Standing on a lot in an otherwise uneventful part of Olomouc in Czechia is a rusting aircraft that houses Aeroplane Bar Letka Tu-104, a tiny bar that has been serving cheap drinks and kitschy music for decades. 

Slinging drinks since the 70’s, when it was a popular hangout among Communists in the know, the strange airplane bar has changed very little. Patrons enter the scuttled craft via a steel walkway that leads to a cage around the door. They must then be buzzed in by the bartender, a figure who was for most of the bar’s life described enigmatically as “the man in the blue polyester suit.” Once inside, guests are greeted to an aircraft interior that has only been slightly modified to accommodate the new business. A DJ booth has been set up in the cockpit and the original passenger seats have simply been reoriented around small tables. The beer is notoriously cheap and the cocktails watered down, and the small cabin quickly fills with cigarette smoke, yet the space manages to retain a modicum of class thanks to the airplane’s unique original furnishings.

The craft itself is a disused Soviet Tupolev 104, a smallish plane that was only used for a small number of years before they were deemed unsafe. However one of the model’s unique features was its posh furnishings which included copper, lace, and mahogany trimmings meant to imitate the comfortable train cars of yesteryear.

The Aeroplane Bar Letka Tu-104 may have lost much of its luster over the years, but its novelty still manages to attract the crowds. 

Update: The plane appears to have been disassembled and removed.