Aircraft
VIP airliners
In short
What is a VIP airliner and when does it make sense?
A VIP airliner is an airline airframe — an Airbus ACJ319 or a Boeing BBJ — fitted with a private cabin instead of rows of seats. It carries eighteen to fifty passengers with bedrooms, a conference area and a proper galley, for $18,000 to $28,000 per flight hour. The rate looks steep beside a heavy jet until you divide by thirty passengers, at which point it is frequently the cheapest way to move a group privately.
- 18–50
- passengers
- 4,000 nm
- typical range
- 460 kt
- long-range cruise
- From $18,000
- per flight hour, indicative
Indicative starting price
From $45,500
Private jet charter in this class, on Dubai to Riyadh, the least expensive route we price for it. Not a package price: each trip is quoted on availability, positioning and date.
01Strengths
What it is good at
Scale. Nothing else moves forty people privately with beds and a meeting room, and for a sports squad, a film unit or a large family the alternative is several aircraft with several arrival times. Baggage capacity is enormous — around 900 cubic feet — which is what actually decides these charters more often than seat count. The cabin is wide enough that a twelve-hour sector feels like a room rather than a tube.
02Limits
Where it stops working
Airports, availability and repositioning. It needs around 6,500 feet of runway, which rules out London City, Farnborough, Biggin Hill and Teterboro among many others, so the road transfer at one end is often longer than you wanted. Far fewer of these aircraft exist than business jets, so short notice is genuinely constrained. And repositioning an airliner is expensive, which makes a one-way charter priced very differently from a return.
03Inside
The cabin
An average adult stands upright in this cabin, which changes a long flight more than any other single specification. The cross-section below is drawn to scale against a person of average height.
VIP airliners
7.2 ft high · 12.1 ft wide
Stand upright
| Passengers | 18–50 |
|---|---|
| Typical range | 4,000 nm (6,000 nm maximum) |
| Long-range cruise | 460 knots |
| Cabin height | 7.2 ft |
| Cabin width | 12.1 ft |
| Cabin length | 78.9 ft |
| Baggage | 900 cu ft |
| Minimum runway | 6,500 ft |
| Indicative rate | From $18,000 per flight hour |
| Minimum charge | 2 block hours |
04In service
Routes this class flies
Every route we price that this class can operate, with its own price on each. Where a class is absent from a route, it is because the leg is beyond its usable range or the runway at one end is too short — not because we would rather sell you something else.
- Dubai → London
2,978 nm · 7 h 20 min
From $157,000
- London → Nice
580 nm · 1 h 50 min
From $46,000
- London → Geneva
423 nm · 1 h 30 min
From $46,000
- Paris → Nice
375 nm · 1 h 20 min
From $46,000
- London → Ibiza
784 nm · 2 h 20 min
From $52,000
- Dubai → Geneva
2,662 nm · 6 h 40 min
From $142,000
- Dubai → Riyadh
461 nm · 1 h 35 min
From $45,500
- London → Milan
543 nm · 1 h 45 min
From $46,000
- Dubai → Maldives
1,634 nm · 4 h 15 min
From $93,000
- Istanbul → Dubai
1,642 nm · 4 h 15 min
From $92,500
05Against the rest
How it compares
Against two heavy jets carrying the same group, the airliner keeps everyone together with beds and a meeting space; two heavy jets are often cheaper, reach more airports and survive one technical problem better. We price both rather than assuming which you want.
06Before you pay
What you are told before any invoice
A class is a starting point, not an aircraft. What you actually receive is a named operator and a specific tail number, and here is what comes with them.
What we commit to
Nothing is charged before the aircraft is confirmed.
You receive the operating carrier’s legal name, its AOC number and the aircraft registration in writing before any invoice or wallet address is issued. If those three things are not in front of you, you have not been asked to pay yet.
One commission, inside the price you were quoted.
Our margin is already in the number you agreed to. There is no second invoice, no booking fee added at the end, and no separate charge for arranging the flight. If the total moves after you have accepted it, the reason is a change you asked for.
If the operator cancels, you choose the remedy — not us.
Aircraft go technical and operators occasionally fail. When that happens before departure you are offered a replacement aircraft on equivalent terms or a full refund, and the choice between them is yours. We do not get to decide that a substitute was good enough.
These form part of our terms of business. If any of them changes, the change is dated there rather than made quietly here.
07Get a price
Tell us the trip
You do not have to pick the class. Send the route, the date and the passenger count and we will tell you which aircraft actually suits it — including when something cheaper than this one would do.
Questions
- Can you move a large group — a team, a crew, a wedding party?
- Yes. Above roughly 16 passengers the aircraft moves from a business jet to a VIP airliner such as an ACJ319 or a BBJ, which carry 18 to 50 people in a private configuration. For a sports team or a film crew the deciding factor is usually baggage and equipment volume rather than seat count, so send the equipment list with the request.
- How much does it cost to charter a private jet?
- There is no fixed price. As indicative starting points, light jets from about $3,200 per flight hour, super-midsize jets from about $6,000 per flight hour, heavy jets from about $8,000 per flight hour and ultra-long-range aircraft from about $11,500 per flight hour, plus positioning and ground handling at both ends. Each route page shows an indicative starting price for that trip. Those figures are starting prices, not quotes: the price of your flight is calculated individually and depends on aircraft availability, where the aircraft is positioned, the date, the operating company and airport charges.
- How much luggage can I take?
- Baggage is limited by volume, not by piece count — around 50 cubic feet on a light jet and 115 on a heavy jet. Skis, golf bags and oversized cases are fine but must be declared when you request the quote, because they can change which aircraft works. Weight matters on long legs: a full cabin plus heavy baggage can shorten range enough to add a fuel stop.
- How far in advance do I need to book?
- Four to six hours is usually enough for a domestic or intra-European leg if an aircraft is already positioned nearby. Intercontinental flights need longer for crew duty time, overflight and landing permits. The genuine constraints are seasonal: Nice and Ibiza in July, Geneva in ski season, and Riyadh at any time because of permit lead times.