How Much Does It Cost When Hiring A Private Jet 

In the past, flying was one of the most glamorous ways to travel. With many classic movies showcasing men and women dressed in their finest outfits, sipping champagne from crystal flutes. Which is a stark comparison to flying these days, where passengers feel like they’re being cramped into planes like sardines, as airlines try to make the most money from every flight. Worse still, forget that champagne, you’ll be lucky to get a warm glass of cheap white wine included on your flight.

So, what do you do if you really want to enjoy the glitz and glamour of flying in the Golden Age of Aviation? No, you won’t need a time machine – you simply need to fly private!

What is the Usual Cost to Fly Private?

It’s not just the glamour and privacy that makes using a private jet so wonderful. By owning your own jet, you have the flexibility to fly off to anywhere in the world whenever you want. Which means you won’t have to spend hours getting frustrated on flight comparison websites, looking for a flight at a time and date that suits you. Plus, just think how spectacular that private jet shot will look on your social media pages.

Of course, with such benefits, if we could all fly private, we would. What stops us, though, is the fact that a private jet flight comes with a very large price tag. So, just how much will flying private or owning your own private jet cost you?

Well, answering that is rather complex, especially when you need to take so many different considerations into account. For one, flying privately as a one-off will be cheaper than buying your own jet. However, if you plan to fly privately on a regular basis, owning that jet will be far more economical. Then, of course, you also need to take into account your destination, costs associated with a plane and the size/specifications of that particular jet.

Where Can You Buy a Private Jet?

If you’re looking to buy a private jet, our team has some of the best expertise in the flight industry. This knowledge, matched with our Jet Advisors collaboration, allows us to match our clients with their ideal aircraft. Even better, we have a global reach that spans across the globe and over a century of knowledge in the airport sector. Which means, we can introduce you to the best new and second-hand private jets currently available, all with a simple and pleasant experience for customers.

Here are a small number of the aircrafts available to buy through our services:

Private Jets Currently On The Market

Cessna Citation I SP

Year built: 1980
Price: Offers accepted by owner
Passenger capacity: 7
Specifications:

• 967.9 AFTT
• 3879 Landings/Cycles
• Certifications: RVSM, MNPS
• Freon Air Conditioning: CESCOM
• Thrust Reversers
• Provisions for HF radio
• ADF: Collins ADF-60A
• Dual Air Data Computers: Shadin
• Communication Radios: Collins VHF-20
• Compass: Dual Sperry Rand/Honeywell C-14 Gyrosyn
• DME: Collins DME-40
• Flight Director: Honeywell FZ-500
• GPS: King Bendix KLN-90B
• Navigation Radios: Dual Collins VIR-30A
• Radar Altimeter: Sperry Rand/Honeywell
• RMI: Dual Collins 332C-10
• Transponder: Dual Collins TDR-90
• Weather Radar: Collins WXR-300

Cessna Citation II

Year Built: 1982
Price: $295,000
Passenger Capacity: 9
Specifications:

• 17,261 AFTT
• 13,147 Landings/Cycles
• Maintained: EU OPS
• Not on any maintenance program, always hangared
• Certifications: RVSM
• Equipped with: CESCOM, RVSM
• Avionics: ADF: Dual Collins
• CVR, FDR, RMI: Dual Collins
• Avionics Package: Collins Pro Line II
• DME: Dual Collins
• Navigation Radios: Dual Collins
• Aircraft will be delivered with fresh Phase 5 inspection
• In addition to the asking price, three spare engines and spare parts are available to purchase
• On current AOC with EU operator (EASA) Danish registration

Bombardier Learjet 35A

Year Built: 1982
Price: $395,000
Passenger Capacity: 8 (includes belted toilet) or 1 stretcher and 5 seats or 2 stretchers and 3 seats
Specifications:

• 17,747 AFTT
• 11,985 Landings/Cycles
• EASA Compliant, still on AOC
• Long range tanks
• STC for medical equipment/stretcher
• Avionics ADF: Dual Collins ADF-60A w/dual ANT-60A antenna
• Altimeter: Aerosonic standby
• Autopilot: J.E.T. FC-200 w/YD-202 yaw damper
• Communication Radios: Dual Collins VHF-21C w/8.33 spacing and dual CTL-22C controllers
• CVR: Fairchild A100A
• DME: Collins DME-40
• FDR: Fairchild F800
• GPS: Dual Trimble 2101 I/O Plus
• Hi Frequency: King KTR-953 w/KAC-952 antenna and Motorola NA-135 SELCAL
• HSI: Collins Pilot
• Navigation Radios: Dual Collins VIR-30A
• Radar Altimeter: Collins ALT-55B
• RMI: Aeronetics
• TAWS: Honeywell Mark VIII EGPWS
• TCAS: Honeywell CAS-67A TCAS-II w/change 7.1
• Transponder: Dual Honeywell MST-67A w/PS-550 controller
• On current AOC with EU operator (EASA) Danish registration

Hawker 800B

Year Built: 1985
Price: $890,000
Passenger Capacity: 8
Specifications:

• 12,465 AFTT
• 8,169 Landings/Cycles
• EASA Compliant
• Maintained on CAFAM, Engines and APU are not on MSP. E Inspection (12 Mths) – 15 April 2019, F Inspection (24 Mths) –15 April 2020, G Inspection (48 Mths) – 15 April 2022, B Inspection (800 Hrs) – 718 Hrs to go, C Inspection (1600 Hrs) –1518 Hrs to go
• TCAS 7.1 Compliant
• Honeywell MK VIII EGPWS
• Honeywell Class B TAWS
• Collins Five Tube EFIS 86C
• Dual Collins VIR 32 Navs
• Dual Collins VHF-22B Comms
• Dual Collins EFD-85 Flight Directors
• Dual Honeywell MST67A Transponders
• Dual Collins Air Data Computers
• Dual Universal UNS-1Msp FMS
• Dual King-956 HF Comms w/ SELCAL
• Collins APS-85B Autopilot, Collins DME-42
• Collins ADF-60B Collins ALT-55B Altimeter
• Collins WXP-85 Color Radar
• Collins ALT-55B Radar Altimeter
• Trimble 2000 GPS, SAT/AFIS
• Multi-Function Display
• Certifications: EASA, RVSM, MNPS, Aug 2017
• Interior refurbishment and March 2018 exterior

Hawker 800XP

Year Built: 2000
Price: $2,450,000
Passenger Capacity: 8
Specifications:

• Cabin: 21 feet long, 5 foot 8 inches tall,  6 feet wide an
•  Enclosed lavatory
• The jet has a long range that can fly from New York to Singapore
• 6,087 AFTT
• 3,958 Landings/Cycles
• Maintained: JAR OPS General and EASA Compliant; Maintained on CAFAM, B & D inspections c/w 11/14. E, F, G & 16-Year Structural inspections c/w 12/04/15. Gear overhaul due 02/24
• Engines on MSP Gold. APU on MSP
• Two owners since new
• Professionally operated and maintained
• Refurbished and repainted 2016
• Certifications: RVSM
• Avionics: Dual Honeywell RNZ-850
• Autopilot: Honeywell SPZ-8000 IFCS
• AFIS: AlliedSignal AFIS
• Avionics Package: Honeywell Primus II
• Communication Radios: Dual Honeywell RCS-851E w/8.33 kHz spacing
• CVR: Universal CVR -120
• Navigation Radios: Dual Honeywell RNZ-850 w/RM immunity
• EFIS: Honeywell 5-tube
• DME: Dual Honeywell RNZ-850
• FDR: AlliedSignal
• FDR; Flight Rules: IFR
• Flight Director: Dual Honeywell EDZ-818
• FMS: Dual Honeywell FMZ-2000 w/GPS
• Equipped with: Engine Maintenance Program, 8.33 channel spacing, FM immunity, Traffic Collision Avoidance System, Flight Data Recorder
• Not equipped with Winglets, XPR Upgrade

What Should You Consider When Purchasing a Private Plane?

Just because you’d like to buy a private jet doesn’t mean you should run out and buy the first plane your come across. Rather, to get the best private jet for your needs, you need to take a step back and consider what size and type of plane you need. After all, private planes come in a large number of sizes:

• Small: light jets and small turboprops 
• Medium: midsize jets or the larger ‘super’ variety
• Large: heavy jets

Passenger Capacity

Firstly, the most important factor you need to think about is how many passengers your jet should carr, that is, how many seats you will regularly need for your private flight. If it’s just you travelling mostly, you will only need a small jet. However, if you plan to travel with your large family or a number of business associates, you will need a larger jet with more seats.

Travel Distance

While your passenger number will quite clearly dictate your jet size, it’s also important to take your travel distance into consideration when choosing the size of private jet to buy. For instance, if you choose a small plane because of small passenger numbers, yet you plan to take your jet on a lot of long-distance trips you might have made a poor choice. This is due to the fact that, because you chose a smaller plane, you will have a smaller fuel tank, too. Which means you will need to make a larger number of fuel stops. This will not only increase your journey time, but will also incur you airport charges. So, although the smaller jet seemed cheaper, a larger private jet could have been a better choice economically.

On the flipside, if you buy a large jet and only travel short distances, this can mean you waste money as well.

Buying New or Second-hand

Unlike other areas in life, when buying new is a must. When it comes to your private jet, there are advantages to both new and second-hand aircrafts, with many people choosing to save themselves money by opting for a pre-owned plane. So, which should you go for when choosing your perfect jet?

First of all, it’s important to realize that an aircraft’s age isn’t really counted in the number of years it had been built. So, even though you’ve seen a plane for sale from say, 1982, which seems very old, this plane may be considered young in comparison to a jet built in 1992. That’s because the lifespan of an aircraft is associated with the number of hours that plane has spent in the air, as well as the number of landings it has made. This means, although a jet might be decades old, it can still be a very shrewd purchase.
Here are some price differences between new and second-hand aircrafts:

• Cessna Citation M2 (seats 7) will cost around $4.5 million new and $3.5 million pre-owned
• Learjet 75 (seats 9) will cost around $13.5 million with a second-hand around $7 million
• Gulfstream G650 (seats 10) is a super luxury jet and will cost around $64.5 million new and $62 million pre-owned
• Bombardier Global 6000 (seats 17) starts at around $60.5 million new and $50 million second-hand

While a pre-owed jet might cost you less initially, it is important to remember that an aircraft comes with a lot of maintenance costs. Indeed, your maintenance and repairs could put you back thousands, even millions, every year on a pre-owned plane. Whereas, if you bought a jet new, it will come with a warranty that will cover repair costs for the first couple of years you have it.

Other Costs Associated with a Private Jet

These aren’t the only costs associated with owning your own private jet, though. When putting together your budget, you will also need to consider insurance for your plane, the cost of fuel and a hanger space to store that plane. There will also be salaries and expenses needed for your pilot and members of your plane’s crew.

You may wish to change how the cabin of your jet looks – both new and pre-owned – in order for it to suit your needs and taste. A luxury interior can cost a staggering $100 million to make your cabin look perfect. Generally, though, you may just wish to change the seating arrangement to suit your passengers or alter the design so it matches that plane you always dreamed of. That’s the wonderful thing about owning your own aircraft, you have the freedom to do as you please with your interior.

Charter a Private Plane Instead

Now that you’ve seen the large expenses owning a private jet brings, you may wish to consider renting a private jet instead. Indeed, for most travelers, a private charter makes far more financial sense, as you get all the perks and glamour of private flight, without the additional costs of owning that flight. As here, although your charter will include expenses such as refueling your plane, charges for using an airport and the cost of the flying team – you will not face the costs of maintaining that plane, which is often the most expensive part of owning a plane.

Pick a Different Plane for Every Trip

Another advantage of a charter is the fact you don’t need to choose one plane for all your travelling. Instead, you can keep your jet cost-effective by choosing an aircraft that suits both the number of passengers flying and the distance you plan to travel.

As an example, you can travel on a Piper PA-34 Seneca that holds 5 people, where flying from Boston in Massachusetts to a small island called Nantucket will cost around $3,000. Or, for a Hawker 750 that seats 8 people, a Boston to Chicago trip would cost around $21,000. Which shows, if you have the ability to choose the best size jet for your needs every flight, you can save yourself a lot of money.

It’s also important to note that when you own a private jet, it might not be suitable for the flight you wish to make. This is particularly true for those who own smaller aircrafts, where for longer flights you might need to use a bigger aircraft or choose to fly commercially. There are also airports – such as St Bart’s and Courchevel, where the runway isn’t suitable to all aircrafts due to the short length. So, in cases like this, you would need to charter a smaller jet to get to these destinations.

If you would like to find out more on how much a charter might cost, you can read our dedicated article here.

Save Yourself More Money with ‘Empty Leg’ Flights

As well as choosing the correct plane size, you can also save money on something called an ‘empty leg’ flight. These flights occur when a private jet is heading back to its home hanger or when that aircraft has to travel to another airport for a booking. Because these flights will happen with or without passengers, you can bag yourself very large discounts on private flights. In fact, your flight could be nearly 75% cheaper than what a chartered flight on the same leg would cost. You can discover more about empty leg flights when you read our Cheapest Private Jet Charter Trips article.

If you’re interested in either buying your own private jet or travelling via an arranged charter, simply get in touch with our team today. We’ll help you pick the correct jet and method of travel for your needs.