An Affordable Private Jet? Is There Such a Thing?
If you’re in the market for a private jet, affordability isn’t usually one of the qualifiers on your checklist. Most prospective owners are looking for reliability, distance, speed, and features. But what if there were a jet that offered all these things, at a price point well below other models? There’s no doubt it’d get a second look from buyers. This is exactly why people can’t stop talking about the new HondaJet Elite.
New in 2019, the HondaJet Elite is a six-seater private jet that’s ready to set the standard for light aircraft. According to Honda, it’s the “fastest, furthest, and highest-flying plane in its class.” And it’s priced at a paltry $5.25 million.
Get to know the HondaJet Elite
The beauty of the HondaJet Elite isn’t that it’s something boldly new and unique. Rather, it’s the familiar made better. For those acquainted with the likes of Embraer’s Phenom 300 or Cessna’s Citation Excel/XLS, the HondaJet Elite isn’t bold new territory. It simply does more with less!
The craft features a revolutionary over-the-wing engine mount configuration, as well as a composite fuselage and Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) fuselage nose and wing. These innovations give the aircraft big punch in a little package. Measuring 42.62 feet, with a wingspan of 39.76 feet, the HondaJet is certainly smaller than other light aircraft in its class.
But what it lacks in size the HondaJet Elite makes up for in capability.
The jet clocks in with a range of 1,437 nautical miles, jetting past the 2,100 nautical mile range of the Citation Excel/XLS and well beyond the range of the Phenom 300’s 1,971 nautical radius. Taking off from Denver International Airport (DEN), the HondaJet is able to reach virtually any major metropolitan hub in the United States.
In addition to its impressive range, the HondaJet Elite also boasts some of the best navigation technologies available today. Pilots can take the helm of an automated Garmin® G3000 avionics suite, equipped with everything from visual weight displays for fuel, baggage, and passengers, to ergonomic cockpit controls for improved maneuverability and safety.
Simply put, the HondaJet Elite has everything you expect from a luxury light aircraft, neatly packed into a smaller jet at a lower price point.
Cost is a big differentiator
The cost of a private jet ranges anywhere from $3 million to $90 million, depending on what you’re buying. A simple turboprop that’s a few years on the market won’t come close to the cost of a brand-new, decked-out Bombardier Global 7500. Tack on the cost of fuel, maintenance, registration, inspections, and more, and the cost of ownership only rises. The bigger the jet, the higher the costs.
The HondaJet Elite is revolutionary not only in its size and capabilities but also in its price point. Coming in at just $5.25 million new, it offers buyers an extremely attractive proposition: a state-of-the-art jet, at the price of a turboprop. Compare this to the list price of an Embraer Phenom 300 at $8.76 million, and it’s quickly evident why the HondaJet Elite is such a big deal. It may just be the first “affordable” jet to hit the market, and it’s not a bad investment at that!