Quick answer
Private jet cost per person is the whole-aircraft price divided by the people on board, plus per-head tax. A full light jet from London to Nice, one way, comes to roughly £1,500–£2,335 each for six; a midsize to Ibiza, one way, around £1,875–£2,750 each for eight. On an empty leg the Nice figure falls to roughly £665–£1,165 each. Indicative only — the live figure is confirmed on enquiry.
Key takeaways
- You charter the whole aircraft, so the per-person figure is the total price divided by your group, plus per-head tax.
- Group size moves the per-head cost more than aircraft class: a full midsize can cost each person less than a half-empty light jet.
- On a full charter, eight people usually pay more each than a flexible business-class fare; on an empty leg they often pay the same or less.
- Air Passenger Duty is charged per passenger and does not divide — and the higher rate for larger jets is over £1,000 a head on long-haul bands.
- Agree who holds the contract and what happens if someone drops out before you split the cost.
How private jet cost per person actually works
A private jet is not sold by the seat. You charter the whole aircraft — crew, fuel, airport fees and all — and the operator does not care whether two people or eight walk up the steps. So "private jet cost per person" is simply the whole-aircraft price divided by the number of people travelling, plus a small number of charges that really are levied per head.
The working formula is short:
- Whole-aircraft price — flight hours multiplied by the hourly rate for the aircraft class, plus fuel surcharges, landing and handling fees, and any repositioning (the cost of getting the aircraft to you). Our private jet charter cost guide breaks that down line by line.
- Divided by the people on board — every seat you fill lowers everyone's share.
- Plus per-head charges — in the UK, chiefly Air Passenger Duty, which is charged per passenger and does not divide.
The other route to a lower figure is the price itself. Empty legs — aircraft repositioning with nobody aboard — are listed at 25–75% below the equivalent full charter, and because the price is still for the whole aircraft, a full group compounds the saving. Everything below uses the same indicative figures that appear across our cost guides; the live figure is always confirmed on enquiry.
Private jet cost per person, by aircraft class
The table pairs each aircraft class with a typical one-way trip, the indicative one-way whole-aircraft price, which already includes getting the aircraft to you and home again, and what that comes to per head with a realistic full cabin. The empty-leg column uses the empty-leg range we see on that corridor where we have one, and otherwise the typical 25–75% discount, then the same division. These are indicative figures for sanity-checking a quote, not prices; the live figure is confirmed on enquiry.
| Class (seats) | Example trip, one way | Full charter · per head | Empty leg · per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turboprop (6–9) | One flying hour, aircraft already positioned | £1,400–£2,200 · £175–£275 with 8 aboard | Up to 75% off, when a leg matches your route |
| Light jet (5–7) | London–Nice, 580 nm, about 2 hours | £9,000–£14,000 · £1,500–£2,335 with 6 | £4,000–£7,000 · £665–£1,165 with 6 |
| Light / midsize (5–8) | London–Geneva, 424 nm, about 1h30 | £7,000–£12,000 · £1,165–£2,000 with 6 | £2,800–£6,000 · £465–£1,000 with 6 |
| Midsize (7–8) | London–Ibiza, 784 nm, about 2h30 | £15,000–£22,000 · £1,875–£2,750 with 8 | £3,750–£16,500 · £470–£2,065 with 8 |
| Super-midsize (8–10) | Paris–Mykonos, 1,213 nm, about 3 hours | £26,400–£37,200 · £3,300–£4,650 with 8 | £6,600–£27,900 · £825–£3,490 with 8 |
| Heavy / ultra-long-range (10–16) | London–New York, 2,997 nm, about 7–8 hours westbound | £60,000–£95,000 · £5,000–£7,915 with 12 | £18,000–£45,000 · £1,500–£3,750 with 12 |
Indicative one-way whole-aircraft ranges, rounded to the nearest £5 per head. Each already includes positioning: roughly the flying time out and back at the class's hourly band, plus fees. Distances are great-circle figures; flight times are approximate. Per-head APD sits on top. A short-stay return on the same aircraft costs roughly the same as a one way; it roughly doubles only if the aircraft goes home between legs. The live figure is confirmed on enquiry.
Three things stand out. First, the per-head figure moves far more with the number of people than with the class of aircraft: a light jet with two aboard costs each person more than a midsize jet with eight. Second, the empty-leg column can cut the per-head figure by up to three-quarters on every row, because the empty-leg discount and the group division multiply together. Third, the full-charter figures depend heavily on where the aircraft is starting from, which is why the ranges are wide — a jet already sitting at your departure airport prices near the bottom of the band, one flying in from elsewhere prices near the top.
Know your route and your head count? Check a live price for the whole aircraft, then do the division.
Check a price →Private jet price per seat, per flying hour
If you don't yet have a route, the most useful single number is the private jet price per seat per flying hour: the class hourly rate divided by a realistic full cabin. It lets you estimate any trip in your head — multiply by the flight time and add fees.
| Class | Typical seats | Charter / hr | Per seat / hr, full cabin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turboprop | 6–9 | £1,400–£2,200 | £175–£275 (8 aboard) |
| Light jet | 5–7 | £2,000–£3,200 | £335–£535 (6 aboard) |
| Midsize | 7–8 | £3,000–£4,400 | £375–£550 (8 aboard) |
| Super-midsize | 8–10 | £4,400–£6,200 | £440–£620 (10 aboard) |
| Heavy | 10–14 | £6,200–£9,000 | £515–£750 (12 aboard) |
| Ultra-long-range | 12–16 | £9,000–£14,000 | £645–£1,000 (14 aboard) |
Read the last column carefully: it assumes a full cabin. Halve the number of passengers and you double the per-seat figure. That is why a "price per seat" for a private jet is only meaningful once you know how many people are going. It is also why the turboprop row looks so attractive — the hourly rate is low and the cabin is surprisingly roomy — although on longer trips its slower cruise means more hours, which eats into the advantage. We look at that trade-off in detail in our turboprop charter cost guide.
Note that "seats" here means a sensible passenger load, not the maximum certified number. The Embraer Phenom 300E brochure, for example, lists six standard passenger seats but a maximum of up to ten or eleven in high-density layouts. Charter cabins are usually fitted for comfort, so the typical figure is the one to plan around, and luggage often runs out before seats do.
Private jet for 8 people: cost, and whether it beats business class
Eight is the point where private aviation starts to look rational on cost alone. It is a full midsize cabin — the class typically seats seven or eight — and it is the group size people ask about most often, usually in the form "is a private jet charter cheaper than business class for eight people?"
Take London to Nice, the busiest private corridor out of the UK. It is about two hours each way. The flying-time part on a midsize jet at £3,000–£4,400 an hour is roughly £6,000–£8,800, and positioning and fees bring a full one-way quote to roughly £14,000–£22,000; a short-stay return on the same aircraft costs about the same. Split eight ways, that is about £1,750–£2,750 a head, indicative; the live figure is confirmed on enquiry. Put that next to eight flexible, changeable business-class returns on your actual dates. Honestly: on a full charter, eight people usually pay more each than they would in business class. Our guide to a private jet for a wedding runs the same sums for a wedding party.
The picture changes with an empty leg. The same midsize aircraft listed as an empty leg on that corridor tends to sit around £4,500–£11,000 one way. Split eight ways, that is roughly £565–£1,375 each — often at or below a flexible business fare, with a private terminal, no queues and your own departure time. That is the specific circumstance in which private beats business class on price rather than just on experience, and it is covered in depth in our empty leg vs business class comparison.
A few practical notes for a group of eight:
- Check the seat count, not the class. Some midsize cabins are configured for seven. If the eighth person ends up on a side-facing divan or the jump seat is not available for passengers, you will need a larger aircraft.
- Count the bags. Eight people with ski bags or golf clubs can exceed what a midsize hold takes. Give the operator an honest bag count before you compare prices.
- Consider a super-midsize. Eight in a super-midsize cabin is genuinely comfortable, and on a short hop the hourly difference split eight ways is smaller than it looks — see our midsize jet charter cost guide for where the two classes overlap.
How much is a 10 seater private jet?
Ten seats takes you to the top of the super-midsize class (eight to ten seats) or into a heavy jet (ten to fourteen). The indicative charter rates are £4,400–£6,200 an hour for super-midsize and £6,200–£9,000 an hour for heavy.
With ten aboard a super-midsize, that is roughly £440–£620 per person per flying hour. A trip of about two and a half hours — London to the eastern Mediterranean, say — would come to roughly £1,100–£1,550 a head for the flying time alone, before fuel surcharges, airport fees and any repositioning.
Two honest points about ten-seat trips. First, many aircraft certified for ten are comfortable for eight, so ask the operator to confirm the real seating layout rather than the brochure maximum. Second, the larger jets that seat ten or more in comfort usually weigh 20 tonnes or more, which changes how Air Passenger Duty applies — covered below.
Booking a private jet from Luton for 6 people
Six is the classic light-jet group. Light jets typically seat five to seven, and the most common types — the Citation CJ3 and CJ4, the Phenom 300 — are laid out for six in a club arrangement. Luton is a sensible base: it handles all classes of private traffic, carries high volume, and is often good for short-notice availability, though it mixes private and commercial operations so it is a little less exclusive than Farnborough or Biggin Hill.
For six people flying from Luton to Nice, the indicative light-jet figures work out like this:
- Full charter, one way: roughly £9,000–£14,000 for the aircraft including positioning, so about £1,500–£2,335 each. A short-stay return on the same aircraft costs roughly the same.
- Empty leg on the corridor, one way: roughly £4,000–£7,000, so about £665–£1,165 each.
- Plus per-head APD on the UK departure (see the next section).
The constraint with six in a light jet is luggage rather than seats. Six people with a weekend bag each is usually fine; six with large hold cases may not be. If the group is travelling heavy, ask for a quote on a midsize too — the gap per head is often smaller than the gap in the headline price. Our light jet charter cost guide has the type-by-type detail, and our private jet hire Nice page covers the airports at the other end.
The per-person cost that doesn't divide: Air Passenger Duty
Almost every cost of a private flight is shared across the cabin. Air Passenger Duty is the exception: it is charged per passenger on flights departing UK airports, so it adds the same amount to everyone's share however many of you travel.
At the time of writing, the HMRC rates for Air Passenger Duty are:
- Standard rate (which applies to non-economy travel): £32 per passenger for Band A destinations such as Europe, £244 for Band B and £253 for Band C.
- Higher rate, for aircraft of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers: £142 per passenger for Band A, £1,097 for Band B and £1,141 for Band C.
The HM Treasury consultation response on APD for private jets explains how this currently lands: aircraft under 5.7 tonnes fall outside APD, private jets between 5.7 and 20 tonnes pay the reduced or standard rate, and only the larger jets pay the higher rate. The government has confirmed that from next April the higher rate will apply to passengers on all private jets above 5.7 tonnes. In per-person terms, a group on a heavy jet to New York (Band B) is currently looking at over £1,000 each in duty alone — a real line on a per-head budget, and one that will reach the light and midsize classes once the reform takes effect.
APD applies on empty legs exactly as on full charter; the discount removes repositioning cost, not tax. For the full picture of UK duty and VAT, see our guide to private jet air passenger duty.
How to split the cost of a private jet fairly
Because the aircraft is booked as a single contract, one person (or one company) books and pays, and the group settles up between themselves. That sounds simple, and usually is, but a little structure up front avoids awkwardness later.
- Agree who holds the contract. The booker is the operator's customer. They accept the terms, pay the deposit or balance, and carry the cancellation risk. Everyone else is paying the booker, not the operator.
- Split the whole-aircraft price equally by head. This is the norm and the least contentious. If one person drops out after booking, the total does not change — so agree in advance whether the remaining travellers absorb the empty seat or the person who withdrew still pays.
- Add per-head charges separately. APD, any individual catering requests and ground transfers are cleanest itemised per person rather than folded into the split.
- Handle unequal legs explicitly. If some of the group fly out and back while others fly one way, split each leg among the people on it rather than averaging across the trip.
- Collect before you confirm. Charter balances are generally due before departure. Collecting shares before the booker commits avoids one person carrying the whole cost.
For empty legs, add one more rule: agree what happens if the leg is cancelled. An empty leg depends on someone else's booking, and if that changes, the leg can disappear. A group that has already planned around it needs a fallback — usually a full charter quote held in reserve, or a scheduled flight.
If you want a genuinely per-seat product rather than splitting a whole aircraft, that is a different model — shared or semi-private flights sell individual seats on a fixed schedule. Our empty leg vs semi-private guide compares the two.
No empty leg on your corridor today? Set an alert for your route and group size and we will tell you when one lists.
Set up a route alert →When the per-person maths doesn't work
We don't sell jets, so we can say this plainly: there are trips where dividing the cost makes no difference to the conclusion.
- One or two people on fixed dates. A couple chartering a light jet to Nice pays £4,500–£7,000 each on a full one-way charter. A scheduled business-class fare will win on cost almost every time.
- Half-empty cabins. Four people in an eight-seat midsize pay double what eight would. If your group is small, book the smallest aircraft that genuinely fits rather than the most comfortable one.
- One-way trips that strand the aircraft. If the operator has to fly the jet home empty after dropping you, that cost often finds its way into your quote. A round trip, or an empty leg going your way, avoids paying for a flight you are not on.
- Peak dates. Quotes during Christmas, Easter, August and major events routinely sit 15–30% above the benchmark. Split eight ways it is still significant.
- Long-haul with a small group. On a heavy jet across the Atlantic, the per-head figure only approaches a premium-cabin fare with a full cabin and an empty leg. With four people on a full charter, it does not come close.
How to bring the private jet cost per person down
Five things move the per-head figure more than anything else:
- Fill the seats. Every extra traveller lowers everyone else's share. Going from six to eight in a midsize cuts each share by a quarter.
- Match the class to the group. The cheapest per head is the smallest aircraft that fits your people and bags comfortably — not a larger cabin that flies half-empty.
- Look for an empty leg. On busy corridors like London–Nice and London–Ibiza (see private jet hire Ibiza), empty legs routinely cut the whole-aircraft price by half or more, and the group division then applies on top.
- Be flexible by a day or an airport. A day either side of peak, or Farnborough instead of Luton, can move a quote more than switching aircraft class.
- Ask for an itemised quote. Fuel, landing fees and repositioning are where two quotes diverge. You can only divide a number fairly once you know what is in it.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a private jet cost per person?
Divide the whole-aircraft price by the number of people flying, then add per-head charges such as APD. As an indicative guide, a full light jet from London to Nice comes to roughly £1,500–£2,335 each for six one way, or about £665–£1,165 each on an empty leg. The live figure is confirmed on enquiry.
Can you buy a single seat on a private jet?
Not on a charter or an empty leg — both are priced for the whole aircraft. Individual seats are sold on shared or semi-private services, which run fixed schedules on set routes. If you are a group, chartering the whole aircraft and splitting it is usually the better value.
How much is a private jet for 8 people?
Eight people fit a midsize jet, which charters at roughly £3,000–£4,400 an hour. London to Nice on a full midsize charter runs about £14,000–£22,000 one way, or £1,750–£2,750 each. An empty leg on the same corridor tends to bring that down to roughly £565–£1,375 each.
Is a private jet charter cheaper than business class for eight people?
On a full charter, usually not — eight people typically pay more each than a flexible business-class fare on the same route. On an empty leg, often yes: the per-head figure can match or undercut a flexible business fare. It depends on the route, the date and how full the cabin is.
How much is a 10 seater private jet?
Ten seats means a large super-midsize or a heavy jet, at roughly £4,400–£6,200 or £6,200–£9,000 an hour respectively. With ten aboard a super-midsize, that is about £440–£620 per person per flying hour before fees. Ask the operator to confirm the real seating layout, as some ten-seat cabins suit eight best.
Does APD apply to every passenger on a private jet?
APD is charged per passenger on departures from UK airports for aircraft of 5.7 tonnes and over. Private jets between 5.7 and 20 tonnes currently pay the reduced or standard rate, while jets of 20 tonnes or more pay the higher rate. The government has confirmed the higher rate will extend to all private jets above 5.7 tonnes from next April.
How do groups usually split the cost of a private jet?
One person or company books and pays the operator, and the group settles up between themselves, usually equally per head. Per-head items like APD are best added separately. Agree in advance what happens if someone drops out, because the aircraft price does not change.
Is an empty leg cheaper per person than a full charter?
Yes, often by half or more. An empty leg is typically priced up to 75% below the equivalent full charter, and it is still priced for the whole aircraft, so the group division applies on top. The trade-off is that the route and date are set by the aircraft's movements, not yours.
Does a bigger group always mean a cheaper price per person?
Within one aircraft, yes — each extra person lowers everyone's share. Once the group outgrows the cabin, you step up a class and the total jumps. The sweet spot is a full cabin in the smallest aircraft that genuinely fits your people and luggage.
