Choosing
Your Aircraft

Work through four things in order: how many passengers, how much luggage by weight rather than bag count, how long the sector is, and what the airports at each end will take. Those four narrow the fleet to a category. The model only matters once the category is settled, and a good desk will tell you the category before it quotes.

Very light, light, midsize, super midsize and heavy, and each step up adds range, cabin space and payload while costing more per hour. Very light jets suit two or three people on short sectors; heavy jets cross oceans with a full party. Most trips are served by the three categories in the middle.

Because payload runs out before seats do. An aircraft that seats eight has to carry fuel for the sector first, and what is left is shared between passengers and baggage. On a full light jet over a useful distance, that remainder is genuinely small, which is why seat count on its own is a poor way to choose.

Per hour yes, per trip not always. A smaller aircraft on a long route can need a fuel stop, which adds 30 to 60 minutes and sometimes pushes the day into crew duty limits or an overnight. When that happens the larger aircraft that flies it non-stop works out cheaper overall.

The smallest jet category, built for short trips with one or two passengers, designed to be flown single pilot, which is part of how the operating cost comes down. The Eclipse 500 was first to market, followed by the Citation Mustang and the Embraer Phenom 100.

Light piston types seat one or two and cruise around 100 miles per hour. Light turbines carry up to four with very little luggage and do most short transfers. Twin engines are the fastest, around 180 miles per hour, carry more, and add a second engine that matters over water and terrain.

Tell the desk the trip and let it propose two or three, then choose between them. The variables that rule aircraft out, runway performance, payload at that fuel load, owner availability on your dates, are not visible from outside. What you should insist on is seeing the specific tail before you sign.

Less than people expect for safety, which depends on the maintenance programme and the operator rather than the build year. Age shows up in cabin comfort, connectivity and noise. A well-maintained older airframe on a rigorous programme is a better bet than a newer one operated loosely.

Frequently, and on island and Alpine itineraries it is the normal answer. The jet covers the long sector into a regional airport and the helicopter does the last leg where there is no runway or no slot. Both are booked together so the daylight and the connection actually work.

In the Aircraft Guides collection, which carries a page for each type with cabin dimensions, range, seating and performance. These guides get you to the right category; those pages tell you what a particular aircraft does.