Guide
Super-midsize, heavy or ultra-long-range: which jet does your trip need?
Range, cabin and cost for the three categories we broker, with the honest breakpoints where one takes over from the next.
Super-midsize (8–9 passengers, about 3,000 NM)
Challenger 350, Citation Longitude, Praetor 600, Gulfstream G280. Stand-up cabin, full lavatory, baggage you can reach in flight. Non-stop coast to coast and Houston to anywhere in the Americas. Eastern US to London is possible with a stop; most clients prefer a heavy for the Atlantic.
Heavy (10–14 passengers, about 4,000–4,500 NM)
Challenger 605 and 650, Falcon 2000, Gulfstream G450, Legacy 650. Two cabin zones, a galley a flight attendant can actually cook in, and the range for New York or Miami to western Europe non-stop. Houston to London is a comfortable heavy mission; Houston to Dubai is at the edge and usually gets a technical stop in winter.
Ultra-long-range (12–16 passengers, 6,000–7,500 NM)
Gulfstream G550, G600 and G650, Global 6000 and 7500, Falcon 7X and 8X. Three zones, a stateroom on the largest, and the legs that define the category: Los Angeles to London, Houston to Dubai, New York to Tokyo, Dallas to Riyadh, all non-stop.
The breakpoints
- Under 9 passengers and under about 3,000 NM: super-midsize. If the leg is domestic and under about 1,900 NM, a midsize jet does it too, and our own Citation Excels may be the best price.
- 10 or more passengers, or 3,000–4,300 NM: heavy.
- Over about 4,300 NM, or when a non-stop is the point: ultra-long-range.
Every route page on this site prices all three so you can see the trade-off for your trip, and the estimator recommends a category from your passenger count and distance.