- Passengers
- Usually 4 to 7 in charter layouts
- Published range
- About 1,200 to 2,200 nm
- Typical sectors
- 1 to 3 hours
- Indicative rate
- About £1,500 to £4,500 per flight hour, indicative
- Best for
- London to Paris, Geneva, Nice, Ibiza
Last reviewed
What counts as a light jet
A light jet is the smallest category of business jet most charter clients will be offered, sized for a small group on a short trip. The cabin is a single seating area, usually in a club of four facing seats with one or two extra seats, and you cannot stand fully upright. In exchange you get jet speed, access to smaller airfields and an hourly rate well below anything larger.
Very light jets sit just below. Aircraft such as the Embraer Phenom 100EX and HondaJet Elite II are built for three or four passengers and short hops, and they are useful when the group is small and the bags are few. Above the classic light jets sit larger types like the Phenom 300E, Citation CJ4 and Pilatus PC-24, which some brokers call "super light". They carry a little more, fly a little further and are often worth the small premium.
The table below lists the light and very light types you are most likely to see on a quote from London. For the Citation M2, CJ3 and CJ4 the figures are Textron's published figures for the new Gen3 versions; aircraft available for charter today are earlier versions of the same types. Passenger numbers are the manufacturer maximum, and on single-pilot types some manufacturers count every occupant including the pilot; charter operators usually fit fewer seats, and the practical load is set by weight and baggage as much as by seats.
| Model | Passengers (manufacturer max) | Approx. range | Cabin and baggage notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embraer Phenom 100EX (very light) | Up to 7, usually 4 | 1,180 nm (2,180 km) with 4 occupants | Cabin 1.55 m high; about 64 cu ft of baggage and stowage |
| HondaJet Elite II (very light) | Up to 7 with one pilot | 1,547 nm (2,865 km) | Engines over the wing free up cabin length; about 66 cu ft of baggage |
| Cessna Citation M2 (Gen3 due to enter service in 2027) | Up to 7 | 1,550 nm (2,870 km) | Cabin 1.45 m high, 3.35 m long; 45.6 cu ft of baggage |
| Cessna Citation CJ3 (Gen3 due to enter service in 2027) | Up to 9 | 2,040 nm (3,780 km) | Cabin 4.78 m long; 65 cu ft of baggage |
| Cessna Citation CJ4 (Gen3 expected to enter service in 2026) | Up to 10 | 2,165 nm (4,010 km) | Cabin 5.28 m long; 77 cu ft of baggage |
| Embraer Phenom 300E | 6 standard, up to 9 or 10 passengers in high-density layouts | 2,010 nm (3,720 km) with 5 occupants | Cabin 1.55 m high; about 84 cu ft of baggage and stowage |
| Pilatus PC-24 | Up to 10 | About 2,000 nm (3,700 km) with 6 passengers | 90 cu ft pressurised hold with a large cargo door; approved for some unpaved strips |
| Learjet 75 (out of production since 2022) | Up to 9 | About 2,040 nm (3,780 km) with 4 passengers | Cabin 1.50 m high; still common in charter fleets |
What the range means from London
Published range assumes a light load, standard temperatures and fuel reserves for an alternate airport. Real missions carry more people and bags, meet winter headwinds and sometimes leave from shorter runways, so plan on meaningfully less than the brochure figure. The distances below are straight-line figures from Farnborough, which is how we sanity-check a request before asking operators for a firm answer.
Paris Le Bourget (about 190 nm), Geneva (about 410 nm), Nice (about 560 nm), Palma and Ibiza (about 720 to 750 nm) and Rome (about 790 nm) are comfortable nonstops for every aircraft in the table, very light jets included. These are the sectors where a light jet makes the most sense: the flight is short, so the cabin limits matter less and the hourly saving is real.
Athens (about 1,320 nm), Istanbul (about 1,350 nm) and Marrakech (about 1,220 nm) are normally nonstop in a Citation CJ3 or CJ4, Phenom 300E or PC-24 with a moderate load. They are beyond the published range of the Phenom 100EX (about 1,180 nm), so that aircraft needs a fuel stop; in a HondaJet or Citation M2 they are at the edge, and a fuel stop is often planned. Tel Aviv, Cyprus and Cairo, at roughly 1,780 to 1,950 nm, are usually beyond what we would plan nonstop in a light jet with a realistic payload. Those trips belong in a midsize jet.
Cabin and baggage: the real constraint
Light jet cabins are narrow and low. The Citation CJ family cabin is 1.45 m high and the Phenom cabins 1.55 m, so most adults stoop to move around. That is fine for an hour or two; on a three-hour sector with six people it becomes noticeable. Most light jets have a small toilet, but on some it is a seat with a curtain rather than a separate compartment. Ask if it matters.
Baggage is where light jet trips most often go wrong. The holds are measured in tens of cubic feet, enough for a soft weekend bag each but not for golf clubs, skis and hard suitcases for six. If you are travelling with sports equipment, prams or large cases, tell us the actual items and we will check them against the specific aircraft, or move you to a Phenom 300E or PC-24, both of which have larger holds.
- Soft bags pack far better than hard cases.
- Skis and golf clubs usually fit one or two sets, not one per person.
- Every extra passenger and bag reduces how far the aircraft can fly nonstop.
Light jet or something else?
Choose a light jet when you are up to five or six people, the sector is under about two and a half hours, and the luggage is modest. For a day trip to Geneva or Paris it is usually the most cost-effective choice.
Step down to a very light jet or a turboprop for two to four people on short hops, especially into small regional fields. Step up to a midsize jet when you want to stand up, need a proper enclosed toilet, have more than six passengers, or are flying to the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa beyond Morocco or the Middle East. The extra cost per hour is often partly offset by not needing a fuel stop.
Indicative light jet charter costs
Very light and light jets cost about £1,500 to £4,500 per flight hour, indicative; it depends on the aircraft, positioning, season and operator. Very light jets usually sit towards the lower end of that range. These are market ranges, not quotes: they usually exclude taxes, VAT where it applies, airport and handling fees, de-icing, overnight crew costs and daily minimums. As a rough illustration, a two-hour sector at those rates is about £3,000 to £9,000 of flight time before fees, positioning and any empty return.
The figure that matters is the trip price. Positioning the aircraft to your departure airport, a return empty sector, peak summer weekends on the Riviera and ski season all move the number, sometimes by more than the hourly rate itself. We quote a fixed price for the whole trip and show you where an empty leg or a different aircraft would make it cheaper.