From buying your own plane to booking a spot on an empty leg flight, here are all the details about how much it costs to fly on a private jet.
1. Ownership
The first amount to take into account is price of the aircraft itself, which of course greatly depends on its size and finishings. According to Simple Flying, the purchase price of such a plane can lie anywhere between $5 million, for a Very Light Jet, and up to $110 million, for an Executive Airliner.
Then, when you own your jet, yearly costs are something to keep in mind as well. Fuelling a plane will quickly cost you thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars and so will insurance. Renting a hangar to store it is essential too. Add maintenance and the wages of a cabin crew and pilots to that list and you’ll quickly learn that once you’ve purchased your jet, you can expect to pay at least around half a million dollars every year on top of that purchasing price.
If you’d like to own a jet but not pay full price, you could opt for fractional ownership too. In that case, you share your private jet with others, the plane being just 1/16th in your name, for example. And even though that means you’ll have to plan a little better to decide who gets the plane when, it also means you share all those costs with other people.
2. Chartering
However, you don’t have to own part of a private jet to be able to fly in one. Chartering a private plane is a way to fly in one without having to pay for it year-round. Instead of booking a seat on a regular plane, you go through an agency in order to organise your very own flight. It means you are as flexible as can be and you have the whole plane to yourself.
Of course, chartering a plane isn’t free. In most cases, you pay an hourly fee, depending on the size of the plane. It can range anywhere from $2,000 to over $12,000. However, in some cases, this option isn’t much more expensive than a first class seat on a regular aircraft – especially when you’re travelling with a (small) group and you can share the costs.
3. Empty legs
The last way to fly on a private jet and undoubtedly the least expensive one is by making use of empty leg flights. Also known as repositioning flights, these are flights during which the plane would usually be empty because it is simply flying to its next booked location.
Several agencies are now specialised in offering those flights to the public. In some cases, the jet is rented out as a whole, in other cases, you just book one seat. Overall, however, the price of an empty leg flight can be up to 75% lower than chartering.
