Private Jet Price | Ownership Vs Membership
When it comes to luxury travel, nothing beats private aviation. But whether you want to better understand the cost of personal travel or are weighing up your business’ aerial options, an awareness of private jet prices is crucial to making a well-informed decision.
To help you find the best and most cost-effective option, discover the price of private jets across the most common means of access – purchase, charter and membership.
What is the price of a private jet to buy?
The price of a private jet depends on the size of the aircraft and its features.
One of the world’s best-selling small private jets, the Cessna Citation, can cost anywhere between £4 million for a 2008 model to £13m for a 2021 release, according to the Spring 2022 Aircraft Bluebook. A smaller, similarly popular jet, the Nextant 400XT, can cost around £3m. That said, older models from lesser-known manufacturers can cost a few hundred thousand pounds second hand.
The same data notes that larger private jet prices also differ widely. The Bombardier Global Express can cost from £9-11m, while another popular model, the Gulfstream G550, costs anywhere between £11m and £33m.
At the largest and most luxurious end of the spectrum, jets like Boeing’s new BBJ 777X have been reported to cost between £318m and £343m per unit.
Several factors can influence the upfront price of a private jet:
- Model age – Older aircraft models cost less than new ones, since the latter will often feature a wider array of more up-to-date technology.
- Aircraft age – If purchasing a second-hand aircraft, older ones tend to cost less.
- Interior – A more luxurious interior, and a greater number and sophistication of features, will command a larger price.
- Servicing – For second-hand aircraft, recent exterior and interior servicing, from a new coat of paint to recently serviced electronics, can increase the private jet’s price.
Jets can also be purchased on a fractional basis, where several people buy shares in the aircraft. However, even this can be expensive, and such circumstances can mean you may be unable to use your jet at the exact time you want to.
What is the ongoing price of a private jet?
On top of the upfront price of a luxury private jet, there are also ongoing costs to consider, including:
- Maintenance – The cost of maintenance and repair varies wildly depending on the plane, its age and whether it’s covered by an aircraft maintenance programme.
- Fuel – At the time of writing, Jet A1 fuel costs around £1.06 per litre. According to the SherpaReport, light jets burn between 291 and 905 litres of fuel per hour – or £2,500 to £7,600 for an eight-hour flight from London to New York.
- Hangarage – The cost of storing an aircraft in a hangar can differ significantly depending on the location, size and facilities available.
- Crew – Ongoing private jet prices also cover crew. This means you can expect to pay various costs for a pilot, co-pilot, stewards and ground crew, often including accommodation.
- Landing fees – The SherpaReport cites that landing at an airport can cost anywhere between £80 to £400, depending on the size of the aircraft and location.
- Passenger costs – This includes all applicable taxes, air passenger duty, food, drink and insurance.
- Positioning costs – The price of getting the jet to its passengers before it's flown to the final destination.
As a result, according to Investopedia, the overall annual cost of running a private jet can be anywhere between £400,000 and £800,000.
It’s also important to consider whether a used aircraft is enrolled on a maintenance programme, as this can also impact total private jet prices. Many jet owners sign up to these with one or more servicing companies, which can reduce the long-term cost of repairs and servicing due to being charged per flight hour, not per service task or part.
Since they're typically based on multi-year contracts, many used aircraft may come with existing contracts tied to them, which the new owner may be required to continue paying.
What are private jet rental and charter prices?
If purchasing a private jet and running one yourself is too expensive, you may be wondering what the price is to rent or charter one (two terms that are used interchangeably).
According to statistics cited by AFAR magazine, private jet charter prices per flight hour are as follows:
- Large jets cost between £6,900 to £10,500
- Medium jets from £3,200 to £6,400
- Small jets from £1,000 to £2,400
How much is a private jet membership?
A way to reduce luxury private jet prices further is to pay for a membership, like VistaJet Program. Our service lets you choose from a fleet of private aircraft at as little as 24-hours’ notice, paying a fixed hourly fee based on a pre-agreed package of flight hours. This offers a raft of benefits compared to the high price of purchase or rental:
Cost
With the price of new jets high, used jet prices skyrocketing and flyers having to contend with sky-high maintenance costs, program memberships is an effective way to reduce the price of your private jet. Given you only pay for what you're likely to use and all other costs are rolled in, they can offer great value – and you won’t need to worry about the risk of depreciation either.
To learn more about how much it could cost you compared to your existing aviation solution, visit our cost calculator.
Flexibility
Program memberships lets you fly when you want and allows you to choose from a wide range of high-quality, luxury business jet. As such, if you only need to transport five people, you don't need to fire up the 30-person company jet and pay the associated costs. Even rental private aircraft can be inflexible, with your travel plans at the mercy of the provider as opposed to being available at just 24 hours’ notice.
Service
Choose VistaJet program membership and benefit from exceptional levels of service, on the ground and in-flight. As well as taking care of the aircraft itself and all associated costs, you gain the best-trained expert pilots and crew too – ready to provide a truly first-rate service.
When it comes to private jet prices, only Program makes sense
Reduce your private aviation costs with flexible, cost-effective and fuss-free Pprogram membership from VistaJet. Get in touch and find out how we can help.