How to rent a private jet and at what price?

Avico Guide: how to rent a private jet and at what price?

Renting a private jet is not as simple as renting a car. One has to be discerning to avoid the many pitfalls and choose the charter solution with the aircraft that really suits one’s needs, depending on the size of the travelling party, the destination and the price one can afford. Without neglecting three important parameters: reliability, safety and services.

How to rent a private jet?

On the internet, you’ll find a multitude of private jet rental specialists. Many of them claim they are the leaders in the industry, the No. 1s, the ones who charter the most aircraft in the world and have been around the longest, who have accrued the most testimonials from grateful customers. A little too much, perhaps.
When you want to safely entrust your private jet trip to someone, choose above all a reliable partner, whose headquarters are close to home (France for example) and whose financial results or annual reports are easily accessible online. In case of problems, you will be glad to rely on a partner who offers you an alternative solution. A company that would be too recently established, a broker located in a remote territory will not be subject to the same French or European rules and regulations and may vanish more easily when things get complicated. For your information you will find at the end of this article Avico’s specialties since 1996.

Who travels by private jet?

We all have seen glitzy pictures of show business celebrities, emirs, political personalities travelling at great expense, getting off their plane in full dress in front of media representatives amazed by such luxury and comfort. Indeed, this part of the market does exist, with Boeing Business Jets (BB Jets) or Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) specially configured with all possible amenitiesThe purchase price of these luxury aircraft, sometimes also called “head of state aircraft” – for their ability to fly a complete government on an official visit over long distances – approaches 50 to 60 million euros. It is also possible to rent these exceptional business jets. You have to be ready to disburse 9000€ to 12000€ per flight hour, depending on the distance, the type of aircraft and the number of passengers.

Governments, ministers, and diplomats travel a lot in private jets for official trips, diplomatic negotiations, inaugurations or partnerships. Depending on their status, guests will accompany the head of state in the Presidency’s V-VIP plane during official trips (Airbus A330 – 200 VIP for the French State, or Boeing 747 “Air Force One” for the US).

 Dassault Falcons are commonly used for diplomatic flights

Business leaders also regularly travel by private jet. Not just for pleasure but by obligation: plant inspections, face to face work meetings with colleagues and / or customers, signatures of contracts, inaugurations of production sites… Key employees can benefit from this mode of transport when their presence is imperative in Europe or beyond, when scheduled flights are unavailable, or when the destination imposes to choose an alternative airport not served by regular or scheduled services at the desired time. Company engineers or technicians who have to leave urgently to solve a critical problem on a production line will often charter a small private jet or a turboprop plane.

Celebrities, show business or entertainment personalities (DJs, film producers or actors, fashion show organizers with their equipment, lawyers, buyers …) use business jets simply because it is the fastest way to travel to the exact destination, quickly, safely, with flexible schedules and increased confidentiality. Not to mention the advantage of personally knowing everyone on board in times of pandemics such as Covid 19 for example.

The price to hire a private jet, even if higher than a first class ticket, remains reasonable if one takes into account the extra convenience. And booking your business through a broker such as Avico is not necessarily more expensive since, like a good real estate agency, he or she deals in volumes and knows all the reliable airlines dedicated to business travel. She will offer her corporate client the right aircraft for the mission.

What type of private jet for you?

The right fit of a business jet depends on several parameters :

• The number of passengers on board
• The destination(s) (short or long distance?)
• The target budget (which will also determine the desired level of comfort)

Private jets are classified according to their weight, their engine and the number of passengers they can accommodate :

Very light jets 

(Cessna Citation Mustang, Cessna Citation M2, Embraer Phenom 100, Eclipse 500…) can carry from 3 to 5 passengers. They are perfect for short and economical trips of 1 to 2 hours.

Lights jets

(Cessna Citation CJ2/3/4, Nextant 400XTI, Beechjet 400A, Cessna Citation Bravo…) will carry 6 to 9 passengers and are slightly more comfortable, with toilets on board for more comfort during long trips. Those jets can fly for around 3 to 4 hours non-stop.

Superlight jets

(Cessna Citation XLS and Excel, Embraer Phenom 300, Learjet 45 XR …) are similar to “light jets” in that they can carry 6 to 9 passengers, but their engines are more powerful and their technology more recent. Superlight jets can fly for 3 to 5 hours.

Midsize jets

(Cessna Citation VII, Hawker 800XP, Gulfstream G150…) sit 6 to 10 passengers more comfortably than light jets, with the possibility to convert seats into lie-flat beds to sleep during long flights, and enough space to serve meals during the cruise. These aircrafts are particularly interesting for medium-haul flights (maximum 5 hours flights).

SuperMidsize jets

(Dassault Falcon 50EX, Citation Latitude, Bombardier Challenger 350, Hawker 4000…) correspond to the modern version of the Midsize category. They can accommodate 8 to 10 passengers in even more comfort on longer stages, with on-board service delivered by a cabin crew member. It’s possible to fly transatlantic (6 hours) with specific models of this category.

Heavy jets

(Dassault Falcon 900EX, Embraer Legacy 650, Bombardier Challenger 850…) are highly comfortable aircraft, capable of transporting 8 to 16 passengers with all desired amenities on transcontinental flights, during which passengers can work or rest in the best conditions of comfort. Usually, heavy jets can remain airborne around 7 to 10 hours.

Ultra Long Range jets

(Gulfstream G650ER, Dassault Falcon 8X, Bombardier Global 6000, Bombardier Global Express XRS…) also carry 8 to 16 passengers in absolute comfort thanks to their large and wide cabin, but they can do this over very long distances, flying non stop more than 12 hours to connect the vast majority of city pairs in the world.

“Boeing Business Jet BB jets” and “Airbus Corporate jets” (ACJ) can accommodate anywhere from 15 to 100 passengers. Those are exceptional aircraft resulting from a reconfiguration of a regular airliner. Also called “head of state aircraft” (e.g. Boeing B767, 100 VIP seats instead of 350) or VIP version aircraft straight from the factory (Embraer Lineage 1000, 19 VIP seats or Airbus A319, 44 VIP seats…), they are the absolute top of the range in private aviation. On average, a VIP airliner can fly around 7-8 hours non-stop but some larger long haul models can fly longer (B767, A330…).

Let’s take some concrete examples:

If you are flying from Nice to Milan Linate with a second passenger on a one-way ticket for an urgent business meeting, you can expect to pay around €6 000 for a “very light jet” such as an Embraer Phenom 100.

You need to travel by private plane from Le Bourget to Zurich and back, leaving at 8am and returning at 7pm for a contract signature event scheduled at 15:00 with 6 passengers on board. You can rent a recent Cessna Citation CJ2 light jet, 6 seats plus a toilet and two pilots in command. One hour flight. The price? about 7 900€.

A one-week diplomatic “road trip” from Le Bourget, taking 5 passengers to multiple cities in the Middle East (Amman, Abu-Dhabi, Sharjah…) renting a heavy jet Embraer Legacy 600 will cost approximately 72 000 €.

Chartering a presidential flight from West Africa to Tangier in an Airbus A318 ACJ “Corporate jet” will cost around 129 000€ round trip

Each aircraft rental is different of course, depending on the dates, the type of aircraft, the number of passengers, the number of days on site… A precise study allows us to target your needs as close as possible to your budget.
Just ask us!

Where are the business aircraft based? What are your main destinations?

These are mandatory questions when chartering a private aircraft. An airline’s home base (also known as a Fixed Base Operator or FBO) is the airport where the company manages its fleet of private jets available for charter. Aircraft owners entrusted their assets to FBOs for management in order to earn revenues when they don’t use them. They can also lease them to other potential customers under a master agreement.

Many “main” bases exist in Europe, in the United States and in the world. This is where you have the best chance of finding an affordable private jet quickly, as it will often (but not always) be available at its home base, and therefore without empty legs.

The main business airports in the world

France:  you have of course the business airports of Paris-Le Bourget, Nice, Cannes, Lyon, Nantes, Strasbourg, Bordeaux which welcome many private jets of various sizes.

Europe:  the main airports with VIP clients are in Geneva, Zurich, Brussels, Milan Linate, Berlin, Madrid, Luxembourg and of course London (London City, Begin Hill, Stansted…)

United States:  business aviation is very common with a large number of aircraft available for rent and many VIP and business airports, such as New York Teterboro, Los Angeles Van Huys, Miami Opa Locka Executive…

Avico, an air broker created in 1996, manages a large portfolio of clients (airlines, governments, armies, incentive and event agencies, Tour operators) and deals with any aircraft need, from private jet to commercial airliner, passenger or cargo, “head of state” for one person or pilgrimages for tens of thousands of believers… For each specialty, a senior project manager is dedicated to your operation.

Contact us or ask for your private jet quote here.