Why do short private jet flights cost more per mile?

Because taxi, climb and descent take roughly the same time whether the leg is 100 miles or 1,000, and charter is billed by flight hour. Those fixed minutes are spread over far fewer miles on a short hop. In this dataset, routes under 400 nautical miles average $40 per nautical mile against $18 on routes over 1,200 — 2.3 times as much.

How much more does a bigger cabin cost?

Across the 45 routes measured here, a midsize jet averages 1.52 times the price of a light jet on the same route, and a heavy jet 2.52 times. Cabin size and range drive that, not seat count — which is why choosing on passenger numbers alone tends to overspend.

Where does this data come from?

Indicative charter pricing supplied through Villiers for 45 specific routes, captured on 2026-09-11 and committed unchanged. These are estimates based on historical charter pricing, not quotes and not transaction records. The full dataset is downloadable below so the analysis can be checked rather than taken on trust.

Can I cite or reuse this?

Yes. Cite it as shown below and link back. The CSV is free to download and republish. We would rather the numbers were checked than repeated.

Private Jet Price Index

Private jet charter costs between $18 and $40 per nautical mile depending almost entirely on how far you are going. Short hops cost 2.3 times as much per mile as long hauls. Measured across 45 US routes from real charter estimates.

Updated September 11, 2026

Cost per nautical mile, by distance

Estimated charter cost per nautical mile grouped by trip distance.
Distance band	Routes	Mean	Median	Range
Under 400 nm	13	$40	$35	$25 – $95
400 to 1,200 nm	20	$20	$20	$19 – $22
Over 1,200 nm	12	$18	$18	$17 – $18

All figures in USD, one way, light jet. Sample sizes are shown so each figure can be weighted accordingly — the bands are not equally populated.

What a bigger cabin costs

Measured on the same route rather than across different ones, a midsize jet averages 1.52 times the price of a light jet, and a heavy jet 2.52 times. Those multiples held closely across all 45 routes, which suggests category pricing is broadly proportional rather than route-dependent.

The most and least expensive routes per mile

The dearest route in the dataset is New York to Islip at $95 per nautical mile over just 44 nm. The cheapest is Los Angeles to New York at $17 over 2,143 nm.

That is a 6-fold spread, and it is almost entirely distance. Neither is a better or worse deal than the other; they are different products priced the same way.

Method, and what this is not

Source: indicative charter pricing supplied through Villiers for 45 specific city pairs, captured on 2026-09-11 and committed unchanged.
These are estimates, not transactions. They reflect historical charter pricing for a route, not what any particular customer paid. A real quote depends on aircraft positioning and the date you fly.
Distance is great-circle, computed from airport coordinates. Actual routing is longer, so real cost per mile flown is slightly lower than shown.
USD only. 4 routes priced in GBP are excluded rather than converted — an exchange rate baked in today would be wrong by the time you read this.
Light jet is the baseline for per-mile figures, being the category available on every route in the sample.

Download the data

The full dataset, free to download and republish. We would rather the numbers were checked than repeated.

Download CSV (45 routes)

Cite this

Licensed CC BY 4.0. Attribution and a link back is all we ask.

Book a Private Jet, "Private Jet Price Index", 2026-09-11. https://bookaprivatejet.wiki/private-jet-price-index/

Every route in the index

All 45 routes, most expensive per nautical mile first.
Route	Distance	Light	Midsize	Heavy	Per nm
New York to Islip	44 nm	$4,181	$6,524	$11,163	$95
New York to East Hampton	82 nm	$4,782	$7,428	$12,631	$58
Denver to Aspen	96 nm	$4,993	$7,747	$13,148	$52
New York to Martha's Vineyard	159 nm	$5,977	$9,227	$15,551	$38
New York to Boston	164 nm	$6,057	$9,347	$15,746	$37
Austin to Dallas	165 nm	$6,057	$9,348	$15,747	$37
New York to Nantucket	183 nm	$6,342	$9,777	$16,444	$35
Los Angeles to Las Vegas	199 nm	$6,592	$10,152	$17,053	$33
Dallas to Houston	208 nm	$6,616	$10,188	$17,112	$32
Los Angeles to San Francisco	278 nm	$7,960	$12,211	$20,396	$29
Phoenix to Los Angeles	326 nm	$8,582	$13,146	$21,914	$26
San Francisco to Las Vegas	359 nm	$9,149	$14,000	$23,301	$25
Miami to Savannah	377 nm	$9,358	$14,314	$23,811	$25
Miami to Atlanta	512 nm	$11,462	$17,480	$28,951	$22
Los Angeles to Sun Valley	591 nm	$12,698	$19,339	$31,969	$21
Dallas to Aspen	618 nm	$13,118	$19,970	$32,994	$21
Chicago to New York	619 nm	$13,133	$19,994	$33,033	$21
New York to Savannah	626 nm	$13,245	$20,161	$33,305	$21
Los Angeles to Aspen	634 nm	$13,369	$20,348	$33,609	$21
Atlanta to New York	657 nm	$13,724	$20,882	$34,476	$21
Chicago to Dallas	690 nm	$14,228	$21,641	$35,707	$21
Seattle to Los Angeles	813 nm	$16,151	$24,534	$40,405	$20
Houston to Aspen	811 nm	$15,988	$24,289	$40,006	$20
Chicago to Aspen	884 nm	$17,255	$26,195	$43,102	$20
New York to West Palm Beach	902 nm	$17,527	$26,604	$43,766	$19
Dallas to Las Vegas	925 nm	$17,889	$27,149	$44,649	$19
New York to Miami	949 nm	$18,264	$27,713	$45,567	$19
Miami to Dallas	960 nm	$18,440	$27,979	$45,997	$19
New York to Naples	962 nm	$18,468	$28,021	$46,065	$19
Chicago to West Palm Beach	982 nm	$18,778	$28,487	$46,822	$19
Miami to Chicago	1,023 nm	$19,407	$29,433	$48,358	$19
Miami to Boston	1,089 nm	$20,431	$30,974	$50,861	$19
Houston to Las Vegas	1,072 nm	$20,057	$30,411	$49,946	$19
Houston to New York	1,234 nm	$22,683	$34,361	$56,360	$18
Houston to Los Angeles	1,211 nm	$22,237	$33,690	$55,271	$18
Chicago to Las Vegas	1,319 nm	$24,009	$36,357	$59,600	$18
New York to Aspen	1,502 nm	$26,872	$40,665	$66,595	$18
Chicago to Los Angeles	1,515 nm	$27,059	$40,946	$67,051	$18
West Palm Beach to Aspen	1,536 nm	$27,396	$41,453	$67,875	$18
Miami to Aspen	1,556 nm	$27,708	$41,922	$68,637	$18
New York to Jackson	1,626 nm	$28,788	$43,547	$71,275	$18
New York to Scottsdale	1,845 nm	$32,205	$48,689	$79,623	$17
Miami to Las Vegas	1,884 nm	$32,809	$49,597	$81,097	$17
New York to Las Vegas	1,935 nm	$33,598	$50,784	$83,024	$17
Los Angeles to New York	2,143 nm	$36,837	$55,657	$90,937	$17

Questions about this data

Why do short private jet flights cost more per mile?: Because taxi, climb and descent take roughly the same time whether the leg is 100 miles or 1,000, and charter is billed by flight hour. Those fixed minutes are spread over far fewer miles on a short hop. In this dataset, routes under 400 nautical miles average $40 per nautical mile against $18 on routes over 1,200 — 2.3 times as much.
How much more does a bigger cabin cost?: Across the 45 routes measured here, a midsize jet averages 1.52 times the price of a light jet on the same route, and a heavy jet 2.52 times. Cabin size and range drive that, not seat count — which is why choosing on passenger numbers alone tends to overspend.
Where does this data come from?: Indicative charter pricing supplied through Villiers for 45 specific routes, captured on 2026-09-11 and committed unchanged. These are estimates based on historical charter pricing, not quotes and not transaction records. The full dataset is downloadable below so the analysis can be checked rather than taken on trust.
Can I cite or reuse this?: Yes. Cite it as shown below and link back. The CSV is free to download and republish. We would rather the numbers were checked than repeated.