Private Jet Charter Costs vs Private Turboprop Aircraft
Fly Private for Half the Cost of a Jet
Most trips across the west don’t need a jet. A Pilatus PC-12 or King Air gets you there for roughly half the hourly rate, and lands at small airports that a jet can’t touch. One price, quoted up front. No fees bolted on later.
Half the Hourly Rate
$2,100–$2,800 per hour, versus nearly double for a comparable light jet.
Short-Field Capability
Operates from short, gravel, and mountain strips a jet often can't use.
Proven Turbine Power
T6 turbine reliability and one of the strongest dispatch records in aviation.
The Air Charter Fee Game
This is where many first-time charter clients get burned. The rate you’re quoted and the invoice you receive rarely match. Repositioning fees, landing fees, daily minimums, federal excise tax. A 40-minute flight can land north of $7,000 once the add-ons stack.
We don’t run it that way. The number we quote is the number you pay. No repositioning surprise. No line item buried at the bottom of an email. You see the full cost before you book, and it holds.
Quick Cost Comparison
Charter rates come down to one thing: the aircraft. Bigger and faster means a higher hourly rate.
Here’s where the 2026 market sits.
Turboprop 🥇
Regional short & remote fields
$2,100–$2,800
Light jet 🥈
Longer hauls, paved runways
$3,500–$5,500
Midsize jet 🥉
Coast-to-coast, larger groups
$5,000–$8,000
The jet is the wrong tool
Speed is the only thing a jet adds on a regional leg. On a 400-mile trip, a light jet saves you maybe twenty minutes in the air. It costs about twice as much to do it. A turboprop flips that. The PC-12 and King Air cruise fast enough for the distances we fly, burn less, and get into short and unpaved strips a jet has to skip. You land closer to the destination.Â
Lands where big jets can't
Our fleet flies into regional hubs and backcountry strips across Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. Mountain fields. Short runways. Airports a jet either can’t use or won’t. If there’s a strip near where you’re headed, we can probably put you on it. That’s the real reason to fly private out here. Not the cabin. The map.
What you can fly
Charter a flight for a board, a family, or a hunting party. Move time-sensitive freight through the King Air’s cargo door. Bring the dog; pets ride in the cabin, not in the hold. Business trip Monday, lake weekend Friday. Same aircraft, same crew that already knows how you travel. Pilatus PC-12 and Beechcraft King Air. Both built for this kind of flying.
What Clients Say About PVTAIR
A few words from recent charter clients.Â
