Pilatus PC-24 Charter

Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland has a singular engineering tradition: the company builds aircraft that go places other aircraft cannot. The PC-6 Porter turboprop, capable of landing on a glacier or a jungle clearing, was the original expression of that philosophy. The PC-12 NG, now the world's best-selling pressurised single-engine turboprop, carried the ethos into the commercial and charter market with considerable success. When Pilatus's engineers began developing the company's first jet in 2013, the mandate was explicit: it would not be a conventional business jet that happened to be Swiss. It would be the only jet in the world certified for unprepared, unpaved runways — a Super Versatile Jet in Pilatus's own terminology.

The PC-24 made its first flight on 11 May 2015 and received EASA and FAA certification in December 2017. It entered service in January 2018, initially with the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, whose need for a jet capable of operating from remote outback airstrips was the archetype of the PC-24's design brief. In the years since, the aircraft has found a diverse global operator base spanning executive charter, medevac, government transport and special missions. Pilatus delivered the 200th PC-24 in 2023, and the type continues in production with a waiting list that reflects persistent demand from operators across every continent.

The engineering decisions that enable the PC-24's unpaved-runway capability — a reinforced undercarriage designed to absorb the loads of ungroomed surfaces, a fuselage mounted high above the ground to protect the engines from foreign object ingestion, and carefully managed low-speed handling characteristics — are invisible to the charter passenger but underpin every aspect of the aircraft's versatility. The PC-24 is also the first jet to carry a large cargo door as standard equipment: a 49-inch by 51-inch aperture that accommodates a medical stretcher, a motorcycle, a piece of industrial equipment or an oversized artwork without modification to the airframe.

The PC-24's cabin is the largest in the light jet category by a meaningful margin. It measures 23 feet 9 inches in length — longer than some midsize jets — with a width of 5 feet 1 inch and a height of 5 feet 1 inch. The combination of length and the flat, continuous floor from cockpit bulkhead to aft pressure bulkhead gives the cabin a spatial generosity that no competitor at this charter price point approaches. Eight passengers in a standard double-club-plus-rear-bench configuration have adequate elbow room, legroom and aisle clearance; six passengers in a pure double-club arrangement are genuinely comfortable for journeys of up to four hours.

The interior is produced by Pilatus in-house to Swiss quality standards, with each aircraft delivered in a bespoke configuration specified by the operator. Charter examples typically feature full leather seating, real-wood or carbon-fibre veneer panels, a fully enclosed aft lavatory and a forward refreshment centre capable of accommodating full hot catering prepared on the ground. The cargo door configuration allows the aft cabin to be rapidly converted to a stretcher or cargo layout, making the PC-24 the most operationally flexible charter aircraft in this review by a considerable margin.

Connectivity is standard on the majority of European charter examples, with Satcom or air-to-ground Wi-Fi, USB-C outlets at each seat and optional in-seat entertainment screens on premium operators' aircraft. Cabin altitude at the FL450 service ceiling is a comfortable 6,800 feet, below the threshold at which most passengers notice any physiological effect, and the Williams FJ44-4A engines produce a quiet, smooth cruise environment. The Garmin G3000 Intrinzic flight deck, certified for single-pilot operations, provides the cockpit crew with weather radar, synthetic vision and a full suite of FMS and safety alerting capabilities.

The PC-24 achieves a maximum cruise speed of 440 knots true airspeed and a service ceiling of FL450. NBAA IFR range with four passengers is 2,106 nautical miles and with six passengers approximately 1,800 nautical miles — figures that enable non-stop routing from London to Marrakech (1,460 nm), to Reykjavik (1,175 nm), to Tel Aviv (2,085 nm at four-passenger payload) or to Tromsø for the Northern Lights season (840 nm). Rate of climb at sea level is an impressive 3,960 feet per minute, reaching FL450 in a direct climb of 27 minutes.

The PC-24's runway performance specifications are the statistics that set it apart from every other aircraft in this review. Balanced field length at maximum take-off weight at sea level on a standard day is 3,090 feet — shorter than the CJ3+ at comparable weight, and short enough to access Courchevel in appropriate seasonal conditions, Innsbruck in summer, Inverness on a cold day, and a very long list of secondary airfields across Africa, Central Asia and Latin America that remain effectively inaccessible to conventional light jets. The aircraft is certified for unpaved gravel, grass and compacted-dirt runways, subject to operator approval and surface assessment.

Landing distance is 2,100 feet over a 50-foot obstacle at maximum landing weight — an approach capability that opens mountain airfields and short coastal strips that would be operationally marginal or entirely unavailable to the Learjet 75 Liberty, the Citation XLS+ or any other jet in this review. Fuel burn averages 200–215 US gallons per hour at cruise power, comparable to the XLS+ but producing significantly higher destination versatility for a similar operating cost.

The PC-24's defining mission is any routing that combines the need for jet speed and jet cabin standards with access to an airfield that no other jet can use. In practical European terms: Samedan (St Moritz, elevation 5,600 feet, runway 5,905 feet) in winter conditions, where the PC-24's short-field performance and single-engine-out go-around capability provide margins that heavier jets cannot match. Or Mwanza in Tanzania for a safari extension, Ouarzazate in Morocco for a desert itinerary, or a private grass strip in the English home counties for a truly door-to-destination service. In the British Isles, Kirkwall in the Orkneys, Tiree under appropriate approval, and several Scottish Highland strips are within the PC-24's certified operating envelope.

Beyond airfield access, the PC-24's cargo door makes it the charter aircraft of choice for a specific category of client: the art collector transporting a work to a regional fair, the expedition team with specialist equipment, the medical operator moving a critical patient on a stretcher. The ability to configure the rear cabin as a cargo hold and the forward cabin as a passenger compartment within minutes of landing is a capability that no other jet in this category offers. Medevac operators across Europe and the Middle East are adopting the PC-24 as their primary aircraft for exactly this reason.

For conventional executive and leisure charter, the PC-24 excels on routes of 1,200–2,000 nm with five to seven passengers: London to Marrakech for a long weekend, Farnborough to Tromsø for a January Northern Lights excursion, or Geneva to Muscat with a fuel stop at Larnaca. The cabin size, the luggage capacity and the cargo door combine to create a charter experience genuinely closer to a midsize jet than to a light jet, at a price point that reflects the light jet category.

The PC-24 commands a charter premium relative to the CJ3+ and HondaJet that reflects its larger cabin, greater versatility and continued production status. Typical all-in European hourly rates in 2024–25 fall between £5,000 and £6,500 per flight hour, with the higher end applying to peak-season positioning-heavy bookings or specialist unpaved-runway missions requiring additional operator preparation. European pricing from some operators is quoted in euros, typically in the range of €6,000–€7,500 per flight hour.

Example route pricing: London Farnborough to Marrakech (1,460 nm), approximately £30,000–£38,000 one-way. London to Nice (900 nm), approximately £22,000–£28,000. A Samedan ski weekend return — London outbound Friday, London inbound Sunday, including the short-field access capability — typically prices at £42,000–£54,000. A London to Tromsø round trip for six passengers with two nights on the ground runs approximately £55,000–£68,000 all-in. Against an equivalent midsize jet charter, these figures represent savings of 30–40% whilst delivering a cabin that, on most criteria, is fully competitive.

For clients with a specific short-field or cargo requirement, the PC-24's charter cost should be benchmarked not against other light jets but against the combined cost of a conventional jet to the nearest commercial hub plus surface transfer to the final destination — a comparison that frequently makes the PC-24 the more economical option by a meaningful margin, once the value of saved time is factored into the calculation. Limitless Sky advises clients to assess total door-to-door journey cost rather than hourly rate alone when evaluating the PC-24 against alternatives.

The PC-24 occupies a unique market position that makes direct comparison difficult. Against the Citation CJ3+, it offers a dramatically larger cabin, greater range, similar cruise speed and the unpaved-runway capability, at a charter cost approximately 40–50% higher. Against the Citation XLS+, it offers a longer cabin, the cargo door, the airstrip access capability and similar performance, at a premium of approximately 10–25% depending on route and positioning. For missions where the XLS+ cabin is sufficient and only established airports are required, the XLS+ remains the more cost-effective choice; for any mission involving short or unpaved airfields, the PC-24 has no jet competitor.

Against the Embraer Phenom 300E, the PC-24 trades approximately 30 knots of cruise speed for a substantially larger cabin, cargo door and short-field capability. The Phenom is the faster, more aerodynamically refined aircraft; the PC-24 is the more capable and versatile tool operationally. Phenom charter rates are broadly comparable in European markets, making the choice primarily a function of mission profile and passenger count. Against the Learjet 75 Liberty, the PC-24 is slower by 25 knots but offers a taller, wider, longer cabin, cargo capability and the defining airstrip advantage that no other jet can match.

Perhaps the most instructive comparison is with the Pilatus PC-12 NG turboprop, which the PC-24 was in part designed to complement. The PC-12 burns less fuel, costs less to charter and can access shorter and more technically demanding strips, but its cruise speed of 280 knots is approximately 160 knots slower than the PC-24. For routes of 600 nm or more where time matters, the PC-24 delivers the destination 40–50% faster at a proportionately higher cost — a trade-off that most time-conscious executives resolve firmly in the jet's favour.

The PC-24 is the right aircraft when versatility, cabin volume and destination access are more important than achieving the lowest possible hourly rate. It is the first choice for any client whose itinerary includes an airfield below 4,000 feet, an unpaved surface, or a destination reachable only by turboprop in the conventional charter fleet. It is the natural choice for expedition travellers, field researchers, NGO logistics teams and high-net-worth leisure clients whose preferred destinations happen to be underserved by commercial aviation and impractical for conventional jets.

For more conventional European charter — executives commuting between major cities, leisure groups heading to Mediterranean resorts — the PC-24's premium over the CJ3+ or XLS+ needs to be justified by the cabin volume advantage. For six to eight passengers travelling together, that justification is straightforward. For two to four passengers on a standard airport-to-airport routing, the economics may favour a lighter aircraft unless the specific destination or cargo requirement provides the deciding factor.

Pilatus's order backlog and the PC-24's proven operational record give confidence that the type will be well-supported, actively maintained and continuously improved throughout the next decade. For clients who want the most capable and genuinely distinctive light jet available for charter in Europe today, the PC-24 is the definitive answer. Contact Limitless Sky at charter@thelimitlesssky.com to discuss routing, airfield access and availability for your specific mission.