The Right Cabin for the Journey

The most common mistake in private travel is to fixate on the aircraft and forget the journey. A celebrated long-range jet is wasted money on a forty-minute hop, and a nimble light jet is a poor companion across an ocean. The art is in the match — and once you understand the categories, the right answer is usually obvious.

Light jets — the short, sharp run

For trips of a couple of hours and parties of four to seven, a light jet is efficient and quick, with access to smaller runways nearer your destination. You sacrifice a stand-up cabin and a galley, but on a city-to-city dash you will scarcely notice. This is the workhorse of regional private travel.

Midsize and super-midsize — the transcontinental sweet spot

Add a stand-up cabin, a proper galley and a few more seats, and you have the most versatile tier in aviation. Midsize and super-midsize jets cover transcontinental and trans-Tasman distances comfortably, and for a great many clients they are the point at which the experience stops being merely fast and starts being genuinely pleasant.

Heavy and ultra-long-range — the world, non-stop

When the journey is intercontinental, the cabin becomes the thing that matters most, because you will be living in it for many hours. Heavy and ultra-long-range jets offer separate living spaces, full galleys, proper beds and the range to cross the planet without stopping. On the longest sectors — Australia to Europe or the Americas — the difference between a capable aircraft and exactly the right one is a full night's sleep on arrival.

There is a fifth tier above all this — VVIP airliners, commercial aircraft reconfigured for the few — but for most journeys the question is simpler than the catalogue suggests. Tell us the route, the party and the priorities, and the cabin chooses itself. That, in the end, is what a broker is for.