Should You Buy or Rent a Private Jet?

Private jets are a luxury that not many people can afford and there’s a good chance you don’t want to take out a loan to buy one. So, is it better to rent or buy?

Should You Buy or Rent a Private Jet?

The global market for private jets is expected to grow from $29 billion in 2022 to a whopping $38.3 billion in 2029, according to this study. This should come as no surprise because private jets offer passengers unrivaled comfort while maximizing productivity.

But this creates an important question: should you buy a private jet or rent one? For obvious reasons, buying a small private jet would require a significant investment. This may make little sense from a monetary perspective if you only travel once or twice a month.

For the remainder of the year, the private jet may well be collecting dust, including a rafter of maintenance problems. This is why a growing number of entrepreneurs are now opting to rent private jets instead of buying them – just to avoid having to stay on top of maintenance requirements and local regulations.

Private Jet – Rent or Buy?

The biggest advantage of buying a private jet is that you, and only you, maintain full ownership of the aircraft. This gives you absolute freedom to do with the jet as you wish, including the ability to make modifications and overall interior decor.

Although the freedom to spruce up the interior decor to your tastes is a nice-to-have feature, it does come with a few caveats. Namely, a sizable payment of nearly $3 million to $100+ million. Compare this to renting a private jet for anywhere from $2000 to $12,000 per hour.

And if you want to save even more, then flying commercial may be a better option. However, owning a private jet is the most expensive choice of these two options.

Some of the most expensive jets easily cross the $100 million mark. And when you add up the price of maintenance, aircraft crew, renting a hangar (or outright buying one), and staff salaries, you realize that owning a private jet is a full-time job!

Compare this with the cost of chartering a private jet, where you only pay for the number of hours you use the private jet. You don’t have to pay the cost of hiring a full-time crew, or flight attendants, maintaining the aircraft, and staying on top of regulations.

Owning a private jet also requires ensuring that the aircraft meets local regulatory requirements. Failing to comply with local laws could easily result in hefty fines that further drive up the cost of ownership. Not to mention that failing to abide by regulatory practices could needlessly endanger the lives – of both the passengers and those on the ground!

Difference Between Buying and Renting

Whether you buy or rent a private jet, the benefits are very similar, including convenience and efficiency. You dictate your flying hours instead of following a strict schedule that may needlessly complicate your work. Moreover, you can select the exact location you want to fly to instead of flying from bigger airports.

A major advantage of choosing your own route is saving time. You don’t need a connecting flight because you can fly directly to where you want.

Another major advantage of buying a private jet is a high level of privacy. You can travel without informing anyone ahead of time except, of course, your crew. Chartering a private jet has similar benefits in terms of privacy, except that a few more intermediaries are aware of your travels (including the business owners and managers).

For most entrepreneurs, this is not a major concern. Both chartering and owning a private jet give you plenty of security and privacy compared to flying commercial. But if you truly want complete privacy and security for your travels, then owning a private jet is a better option.

Let’s take a more comprehensive look at the costs of buying a jet vs. renting one.

Cost of Buying

Small private jets for sale will set you back at least $3 million. And the more bells and whistles you add, the more you have to pay. Some of the most expensive luxury private jets for sale will cost you over $100 million.

Let’s also consider that the aircraft will depreciate the moment you sign on the dotted line. An average aircraft has an annual depreciation of about $500,000 per year.

The operating costs of an aircraft, including maintenance (extremely important), trained crews, hanger costs, and insurance, will cost nearly $1,000,000 per year. These are the average costs for a small private jet. A bigger private jet’s maintenance and operating costs may well run into $2 million per year or above.

Of course, you can offset some of these costs by renting your private jet – but that might increase your maintenance costs for the aircraft.

For most entrepreneurs, the costs of buying a private jet are too high. Sure you can modify the interior decor to your liking, but are aesthetics worth the extra investment?

Cost of Renting

So how much is it to rent a private jet, exactly? The cost of renting a private jet varies based on various factors. This includes the size of the jet, the number of aircraft crew, the distance traveled, and the number of hours of renting the private jet.

The average rental rate for most private jets varies from $1,000 to $10,000 per hour. Renting one for an entire week may cost anywhere from $50,000 to $240,000.

You may further reduce the rental cost by subscribing to the airline’s membership packages. These membership packages are usually fully refundable and flexible according to your schedule.

For more information, you should compare different membership tiers to see which meets your requirements.

Summary of Costs

To conclude, buying a small private jet will cost you $3 million. Add to that $1 million for operating and maintenance costs, and you are looking at $4 million for the first year. Any unforeseen incidents, such as major repairs may require upwards of $50,000.

Renting a private jet for a one-hour flight will require just $2,000 per hour (minimum). Imagine not worrying about crew salaries, maintenance costs, and other expenditures.

For most entrepreneurs, renting a small private jet is a more advantageous solution than outright buying one.