Farnborough
Nice
Published Range vs Usable Range: Why the Brochure Number Is Never the Whole Story
The Bombardier Global 7500 is certified to 7,700 nm, yet with eight passengers, bags and a normal reserve its usable range is closer to 6,500 nm, which is why a Sydney sector still needs a stop. That gap is the honest answer to how far private jets can fly non-stop: the brochure describes a best case, not your trip.
Manufacturers typically quote range with four passengers, a modest bag allowance, still air, long-range cruise speed and a fixed reserve. Your flight will usually differ on every one of those points. More people and luggage, a faster cruise to protect the schedule, and a legal alternate airport all consume fuel that the headline figure assumed you would not need.
As a working rule, and this is our own planning estimate rather than a manufacturer figure, deduct 10 to 20 percent from published range for a realistic load and routing. On that basis a Phenom 300E rated at 2,010 nm is a 1,600 nm aircraft (2,010 nm less 20 percent), and a Global 7500 is a 6,500 nm aircraft (7,700 nm less 15 percent).
The test brokers apply is simple: convert the route to air distance, which means ground distance adjusted for the forecast wind, then compare it with usable range for that passenger count. If the margin is under roughly 10 percent of the air distance, plan a stop or choose the next category up.
Light and Midsize Jets: Europe, the Mediterranean and the Limits of a Citation or Phenom
London to Nice is about 520 nm, which a light jet covers in roughly 1 hour 45 minutes with fuel to spare. A Phenom 300E at that distance carries a full cabin and full bags without any range compromise, and a typical one-way charter runs to £9,000 to £14,000 depending on season.
The constraint is not range but what the cabin allows. The Citation XLS+ is the usual midsize benchmark: a published range of 2,100 nm, with a cabin 5 ft 6 in wide and 5 ft 7 in high, enough for eight seats but not for standing room or a bag hold that swallows ski luggage. The same London to Nice sector in an XLS+ typically costs £12,000 to £18,000.
For these categories, usable reach from London is about 1,500 to 1,700 nm: Athens, Marrakech, the Canaries at the edge, and everything on the Mediterranean coast. Athens is around 1,500 nm and sits inside the Phenom 300E's usable range only with calm winds; a strong westbound return can push the air distance past 1,700 nm, which is why a midsize jet is the safer choice there.
Runways matter as much as range at this end. London City (EGLC) has a runway of typically around 1,500 m and a steep approach, so only a short list of types, including the Phenom 300E, can use it. Farnborough (EGLF), with a runway of typically about 1,800 m, accepts a far wider fleet. Check current AIP data before committing to a short-field plan.
Super-Midsize and Large Cabin: Reaching Dubai, the Eastern Seaboard and Beyond from London
Riyadh sits about 2,640 nm from Heathrow (EGLL), and that single number divides the super-midsize market. A Bombardier Challenger 350, published at 3,200 nm, has a usable range near 2,700 nm, which leaves no margin on a headwind day. The Embraer Praetor 600, published at 3,900 nm, and the Cessna Citation Longitude, published at 3,500 nm, are the two direct comparators with the reserves to fly it comfortably.
A non-stop London to Riyadh in a Praetor 600 takes around 6 hours 15 minutes and typically costs £30,000 to £42,000 one way. Dubai, at about 2,970 nm, is the harder case for the same class: eastbound it is achievable in a Praetor 600 with a favourable wind, and a Challenger 350 should plan a stop. A London to Dubai non-stop in a super-midsize jet runs to roughly £38,000 to £52,000 where the aircraft can make it.
Large cabin changes the picture. The Gulfstream G550 (6,750 nm), Dassault Falcon 8X (6,450 nm) and Bombardier Global 6000 (6,000 nm) all cover Dubai and New York with margin. A London to Dubai sector in this group typically costs £50,000 to £70,000 one way, at around 6 hours 45 minutes in the air.
New York is the route where wind decides everything. Heathrow to Teterboro (KTEB) is roughly 3,000 nm, but a 100 kt westbound headwind slows a Mach 0.85 jet from about 490 kt to 390 kt over the ground. The flight then takes about 7 hours 40 minutes (3,000 nm at 390 kt) and consumes the fuel for about 3,770 nm of still-air distance (7.7 hours at 490 kt). That is beyond a Challenger 350 and marginal for a Praetor 600, so large cabin is the sensible choice. A one-way sector typically costs £55,000 to £80,000.
Ultra-Long-Range Jets: London to Singapore, Los Angeles and Sydney-Bound Routes Without a Stop
Singapore (WSSS) is roughly 5,870 nm from Heathrow, and only four aircraft types were designed to fly it comfortably: the Gulfstream G650ER (7,500 nm), Gulfstream G700 (7,500 nm), Bombardier Global 7500 (7,700 nm) and, once in service, the Dassault Falcon 10X (7,500 nm). The Falcon 10X was not yet operating at the time of writing, so charter availability today means the first three.
At around 12 hours 30 minutes in the air, a non-stop London to Singapore sector typically costs £130,000 to £170,000 one way. That figure is our estimate, built from the flight time and current hourly charter rates for this category rather than a published rate card, and it moves with positioning distance and season.
Los Angeles is about 4,700 nm from London, and the westbound headwind adds fuel but not drama. A Global 7500 or G650ER flies it in around 10 hours with room to spare, typically for £95,000 to £130,000 one way. The G650ER's cabin, 8 ft 2 in wide and 6 ft 3 in high, is the practical reason many clients choose it for sectors of that length.
Sydney is where the brochure runs out. At about 9,170 nm from Heathrow, it exceeds even the Global 7500's published 7,700 nm, so every Sydney-bound routing needs a technical stop. Singapore is the common choice: 5,870 nm to the first leg, then around 3,300 nm onward, with a ground time of 60 to 90 minutes.
What Cuts Range in Practice: Headwinds, Payload, Runway Length, Weather and Airport Restrictions
A full tank is not the same as a full cabin. Many jets can only fill their tanks by leaving seats or bags behind, which means a published range quoted at four passengers shrinks quickly as the cabin fills. On a Challenger 350 with eight passengers, expect to give up several hundred nautical miles compared with the four-passenger figure.
Headwinds are the largest single variable. A 100 kt jet-stream headwind on a westbound Atlantic crossing adds roughly 770 nm to the effective air distance of a 3,000 nm trip, as shown by the New York example above. The return, on the same day, may need less fuel than the brochure suggests.
Runway length caps takeoff weight, and takeoff weight caps fuel. A hot day at a high-altitude airfield or a runway under about 1,800 m can force an operator to load less fuel than the aircraft could physically carry. That is a common reason a jet with enough range on paper stops short in reality.
Weather and airport restrictions add the rest. A destination with poor forecast visibility needs a second alternate, which means more reserve fuel carried for the whole sector. Noise curfews, slot windows and customs hours can also make a stop more practical than a non-stop that lands outside permitted hours.
Fuel Stops: When a Technical Stop Makes Sense and How Brokers Plan Around Them
A technical stop is the right call when the margin between air distance and usable range falls under about 10 percent; that threshold leaves a buffer for an unforecast headwind or a diversion. At that point carrying the extra fuel reduces payload, so a quick stop often costs less than leaving seats empty.
In practice a stop adds 45 to 70 minutes of ground and flight time, plus landing and handling fees. Our estimate for the combined extra cost is £4,000 to £9,000, depending on airport and aircraft size. Against that, a stop can allow a smaller, cheaper aircraft to fly a route that would otherwise need a category up, a saving that can exceed £15,000 on a Dubai sector.
Brokers choose stops deliberately: airports with 24-hour operations, quick turnarounds, no slot requirements and sensible customs arrangements. Common choices include Shannon or Reykjavik for westbound Atlantic sectors, and Larnaca or Muscat when heading east.
The working method is to take the ground distance, adjust it for the forecast wind to get air distance, and compare it with 80 to 85 percent of the published range. If the air distance is within 10 percent of that figure, ask your broker to price both the non-stop in a larger aircraft and the stop in a smaller one, then choose on total cost and time.
