The class where the cabin becomes a room rather than a seat. Eight to ten people, six or seven hours in the air, and enough range to reach the Gulf from London without stopping.
At a glance
Category guidance. Figures are typical for the class rather than promises about a particular aircraft, and every quote names the actual aeroplane.
What it is for
Super-midsize is the class most people mean when they picture a private jet: a cabin you walk down, seats that face each other across a table, a galley with hot food and somebody to serve it. It is also the first category where a long day is genuinely comfortable rather than merely quick.
Commercially it tends to be chosen for two reasons. Either the group has grown past eight and the luggage with it, or the route has grown past five hours and a stooped cabin has stopped being acceptable. Aircraft are arranged with licensed commercial operators.
Examples
| Aircraft | Typical seats | Typical range | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bombardier Challenger 350 and 3500 | 9 to 10 | About 3,200 nm | The benchmark of the class, with the widest cabin and a very large following in Europe |
| Cessna Citation Longitude | 8 to 12 | About 3,500 nm | Among the newest in the class, quiet, with a genuinely flat floor |
| Gulfstream G280 | 8 to 10 | About 3,600 nm | Strong range for its size and quick, with good short-field performance |
| Embraer Praetor 600 | 8 to 12 | About 4,000 nm | The longest legs in the class, and a stand-up flat-floor cabin |
| Dassault Falcon 2000LXS | 8 to 10 | About 4,000 nm | A wide Falcon cabin with unusually good behaviour at restricted airports |
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Published range figures assume still air and a light load. Winter headwinds westbound across the Atlantic can take a very large bite out of them, which is why we check the actual trip on the actual date.
Range on the map
Drawn from Farnborough as true circles on the globe. The solid ring is the top of the class's typical range and the dashed ring is what most of its aircraft can plan on. Change the departure to see the reach from anywhere.
Super-midsize jets from Farnborough Airport (FAB). The solid ring is the top of the class's published range, 4,000 nautical miles; the dashed ring is 85% of the bottom of it, 2,720 nautical miles, which most aircraft in the class can plan on non-stop. Winds, payload and reserves reduce real range, so every trip is checked on the day.
Said honestly
Super-midsize covers almost everything Europeans want to do. The honest limits are all at the long end, and they are about wind more than distance.
Where they go
Go a size down
Within Europe the extra range is often range you will never use.
Go a size up
A heavy jet buys reliable transatlantic range and a cabin with separate zones.
The other categories
5 to 7 passengers
Two to three hours, and the smallest airfields.
7 to 9 passengers
Four to five hours, with a proper hold.
10 to 16 passengers
Transatlantic, with cabin crew and separate cabin zones.
12 to 16 passengers
London to Asia non-stop, with beds.
Trip calculator
Type the two ends of the trip, and the number travelling if you know it. You will see the distance, a realistic time in the air, and which classes and aircraft can fly it without a stop, with this class marked.
Distances are great circle, the shortest line over the earth. Non-stop is judged against 85% of each aircraft's published still-air range, which leaves a sensible margin for reserves, wind and load. Times are a planning range for the time in the air, not a schedule. Aircraft are arranged with licensed commercial operators, and every quote is checked against the actual aircraft, the load and the forecast for your date.
Request a quote
The date matters as much as the route in this class, because the wind decides whether a long sector is non-stop or not. Send us both and we will tell you plainly. Nothing is booked or charged online.
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Questions people ask
Eastbound to London, comfortably. Westbound to New York in winter, often only with a fuel stop, because the headwinds are severe. If a non-stop both ways matters, look at heavy jets.
On many charters in this class, yes, and on longer sectors almost always. It is worth confirming when you choose, because it changes what catering is possible.
Chiefly standing headroom, another hour or two of range, and a hold you can actually fill. The step from midsize is the biggest single jump in comfort in the whole ladder.
Eight or nine in comfort on a long flight, even where the aircraft is certified for more. The published maximum usually assumes people sitting on a divan for hours, which nobody wants.
Yes to the valley airports such as Geneva and Chambéry, subject to conditions and the aircraft. The mountain altiports are for much smaller aircraft, or a helicopter for the last leg.
One contact, wherever you are