How Much Money to Buy and Run A Private Jet

No frustrating security lines, no overcrowded seat, just seamless luxury travel on your timeline.

But definitely, private jets usually are pricey. Most of the time, in fact.

With all that in mind, read on to find out what flying private actually costs, in granular detail, before you reach into your savings or pull out any sort of credit card.

What Factors Determine How Much a Private Jet Costs?

There are a whole bunch of different variables that affect how much a private jet will set you back. Here are just some of the primary ones that can factor in:

Size Matters One of those factors is the size of the aircraft itself. Good things come in small packages right? well, NOT following the mantra here when it comes to private jets! A bigger jet commands a bigger price tag.

The most affordable private jets are those which seat between 4 to 6 passengers - small private jets.

The perfect luxury travel deep dive for you and a few friends. But without costing an arm & a leg; these little guys are snug.

Move up to midsize jets with seating for 6 to 10 passengers, and there will be a substantial price increase. This thing has proper, serious luxury and space but that entails some serious coin too.

Then there are the really big boys - biz jets capable of accommodating 15, 16, maybe even more than 20 souls on board. These are some of the largest and costliest birds one can own in terms of private travel.

Well, it really does when you think about it. Bigger planes also need a bigger sticker price to buy in the first place. That is, they require additional fuel to run their large engines.

Because they do have bigger cabin spaces to upkeep. And they need larger crews to operate them. Their total operational costs are simply on a completely other level than smaller private jets. It really is a matter of size when it comes to the aircraft.

   

How Far Would You Like to Go? More than size, the aircraft range how far can it fly before needing to fill out its tank definitely influence the price tag. A Gulfstream G650 will fly 8,000 miles whereas a small propeller plane reaches its range max of about 1,000 miles before it needs fuel.

We all know that the farther the flight time, there will be more fuel reserves needed for it. Which means longer range Birds need larger fuel tanks and tanks that can carry a greater tonnage of fuel. To fly those thousands of miles remains in the air brings up more powerful, robust engines for long-range private jets. Of course the more high-tech your engine, the pricier it gets.

Also, longer expanse equals more in-board enhancements to preserve passengers pleased on those lengthy high-flying global routes. This is where really gelling the price on long-haul private jets begins. So - fancy furniture, sleeping rooms, leisure facilities and complete galleys outfitted with the works.

The bottom line? The extended range capability offers a significant dose of luxury. The most expensive private jets in the world will often fall at the tippy top of the scale and ever-flight time over 8+ hours is one such example.

Used or New? One massive way to save serious green is opting for a secondhand private jet over an outright brand new one.

Why? Depreciation value drops fast on an airplane, brand-new jets lose 10% to 15% the minute they roll off of the lot. Just like a new car driving off the dealer, the depreciation hit is steep.

That makes older pre-owned private jets millions less expensive than a similarly equipped shiny new model.

If you could find one of the last Gulfstream's, you're only paying a fraction of what you'd pay for an all brand new example direct from the assembly line.

However, this also means the more potential problems there are for repairs and expensive maintenance work. So, although you save a ton on the buy, you may wind up pouring more dollars into maintenance on an old jet as those flight hours stack up.

It’s about finding the sweet spot - a still-somewhat-new private jet, but not younger than you can afford to maintain because that’s where the honey do lists start piling up.

Such has to be considered when picking a used aircraft, having the age of it being an important consideration. You want a fastidious cared for jet and not one that has been ridden hard, and put away wet!

How Much Does a Private Jet Cost?

Ok, now we start putting numbers on the table. First up - the big ticket sticker for the jet itself. By far the largest line item expense. Prices for aircraft can differ wildly according to make, model, age, condition and capabilities.

Here are some average price examples on the private jet cost scale, from small to large:

Turboprop plane: $800,000 to $2.5 million Very light jet: $1 to $3 million Light jet: $3 to $8 million Midsize jet: $6 to $18 million Super midsize jet: $15 to $35 million Large jet: $25 to $90 million Long range jet: $50 to $250 million

  

Naturally, unless you're an outlandishly rich person with money to spend, you won't lay down the full asking price in a single payment. Buyers of private jets typically make a security deposit in the range of 10% to 30%.

Financing then fills in the rest, which is paid off over 5 to 10+ years. That financing term adds hundreds of thousands in total interest, so just be sure to do the math when figuring up your final purchase price.

However, the private jet expenses have only just begun as soon you purchase your lovely new asset.

Next, let us discuss the continuous costs you will incur annually each year for owning and operating your jet, both fixed as well as variable.

Fixed Costs

Your jet might be parked in the hangar, but it still has a set of annual fixed operating costs to you as the owner. These include:

Insurance This is particularly relevant to aircraft insurance, which covers us on liability in case of an accident or an incident. However, policies are not cheap going form $50,000 to $500,000+ a year depending on the jet.

Maintenance & Inspections As private jets age and gain flight hours, they necessitate routine maintenance checks and component replacements. Just the annual inspections will cost anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000+.

Hangar Storage If you are not flying, your jet should have a home base. Hangar costs vary greatly with the airport, but figure on $50,000 to $100,000 annually.

Finance Payments For most, financing your private jet means having monthly payments - those could add up to $500,000+ a year.

Pilot Salaries It is possible that it could fly several hours a week without the need for pilots (you still pay for their annual salaries and benefits). That's $200,000 to upwards of $300,000 annually for two pilots.

Management Fees Unless you really want to be in the trip-planning, maintenance, and compliance (among other things) business yourself, you'll pay one of the aviation management companies out there to do it. Their annual fees may be as much as $100,000.

Without even stepping foot inside of the plane, you are looking at somewhere between $500 million and $1m (or more) in annual fixed operating expenses for a private jet!

Variable Costs Each time you fly, there are also "per use" variable fees that you pay. These include:

Fuel Costs Of the operating costs per flight hour, fuel is the single largest expense. Midsize jet: Per hour flight time: $2,000 to $5,000 For bigger planes this can be into the tens of thousands, with a charge of $10,000 per hour for fuel.

Engine Reserves You pay a fee above the hourly rate flown to fund future engine overhauls and replacements. Which amounts to $300-$500 for each flight hour.

Landing & Parking Fees When an airplane operates to/from/through airports it incurs a landing charge, ramp parking charges etc. Those can run anywhere from $200 to $2,000+ per journey with them.

Crew Expenses A few hundred bucks - per flight, mind you - for crew hotels and per diem.

Maintenance Turns out that every flight hour is the same incremental dent on wear and tear. You reserve for future repairs: ~$500-1,000/hour

All-in hourly variable costs are between $3,000 to well over $20,000. You also incur deadhead expenses to move planes when necessary.

Operational Cost Example

For a midsize private jet, let's take a look at these costs in practice:

• Purchase Price: $10 million
• Annual Fixed Costs: $700,000
• Variable Hourly Cost: $4,000

 

That's $800,000 of variable costs per year if you fly 200 hours a year. For an annual expenditure of $1.5m in total, then.

Add up purchase price, fixed costs, variables expenses and financing and you spend about $13 million after 5 years of ownership with 1,000 flight hours.

Private Jet Charter Costs The second best option would likely be a private jet charter if buying isn't possible. Sample hourly charter rates would be as follows

• Turboprop Charter - $1000-$1500 /hour
• Light Jet Charter $3,000 - $4,000/hr
• Midsize Jet Charter: $4,000 - $7,000/hr
• Price Range: Super Midsize Jet Charter - $7,000 - $10,000/hour
• Heavy Jet - $9000-$20,000/hr +

Since you pay only for the hours flown, it is much easier to get into. For a charter on the more modest side: just plan to spend an average of $5,000 per hour.

In fact, the ferry fees, surcharge and incidentals can add several thousands more to your trip. Thus when you are chartering, compare prices and convenience very carefully. On the economics side, owning almost always wins in the long run.

Takeaway As with anything aviation, private jets demand some serious asset management. But with good data on hand you can plan well and remain free from unpleasant surprises.

You know the key variables that determine private and charter aircraft ownership, costs. Costs really add up fast - everything from jet size and age to hours flown and maintenance. However, optimizing your private aviation investment is possible with some prior planning.