It's been just over half a century since the dawn of the Jet Age, but probably 25 years since the jet set of privileged travelers it spawned has held any real cachet.
Flying to exotic destinations has become almost as routine as grocery shopping, and promotional pricing means it can occasionally be cheaper to take a plane than a bus to your destination of choice. Still, one segment of the aviation industry is flying high when it comes to status and price--the private aircraft in all of its intriguing variations.
Rare is the business big shot or celebrity bright light who would be caught in commercial first-class these days. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich reportedly owns a private jet to go along with his trio of yachts. New papa Tom Cruise, who topped our Celebrity 100 list this year, served sushi to Katie Holmes aboard his private jet on their first date. Damage to the windshield of Oprah Winfrey's private jet forced the talk queen to re-land at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport late last year. And in April, hip hop maestro Snoop Dogg departed London in a private jet following detention after his entourage clashed with police at a Heathrow departure lounge.
View a slide show of 11 of the priciest private planes in the skies.
Private planes run the gamut from workman-like transports to flying palaces, and their prices can run well into the tens of millions. Corporate-owned aircraft are typically mere offices in the sky, done up more with comfort than excess in mind, with amenities like solid leather seats, a satellite communications system so executives can stay in touch and maybe somewhere for the CEO to stretch out between meetings.
When price is no object, however, potential extravagances abound. Features such as surround-sound entertainment systems, exotic wood cabinetry and trim, gold-plated bathroom fixtures, hand-woven carpeting and original artwork combine to create rarefied spaces on high.
"Owning your own private plane is far and away one of life's great indulgences, so people want them done up with style," says Eric H. Roth, owner of International Jet Interiors of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., which specializes in crafting luxe insides for high-net-worth plane owners.
While the sky's not exactly the limit on cabin excess--weight requirements and FAA restrictions see to that--Roth says his customers may spend anywhere from $800,000 to $1.5 million to make their cabins just so. For instance, an International Jet Interiors client from India recently requested crocodile leather trim throughout his aircraft, including for the centerpiece of the lavatory. "That's going to be a $10,000 toilet seat," notes Roth.
There are currently some 219,000 non-commercial airline, non-military airplanes in the U.S., according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), a trade organization based in Washington, D.C. Together, those planes run up more than 28 million flying hours annually--two-thirds of it for business purposes.
While sleek and gleaming business jets like Gulfstreams and Learjets remain the most recognizable of private aircraft, the field is vast and diverse. It includes everything from small single-engine piston aircraft, which until recently were primarily the playthings of recreational fliers, to turboprop machines long revered for business transportation, to intercontinental business jets on the scale of commercial airliners.
The market for such aircraft is quite strong. Worldwide shipments of piston-engine aircraft to customers, which reached a 20-year peak in 2004, increased another 20.2% last year to 2,465 new units, according to GAMA. Meanwhile, turboprop airplane shipments went up 13.7% in 2005 to 365 new units, and business jets saw the most sizable percentage increase of all, 26.9% in 2005, to 705 units.
The dawn of private flight can be traced back to the late 1920s and early 1930s, when planes such as the Beech Model 17 "Staggerwing"--a bi-plane whose lower wing is more forward than its upper--were done up in luxurious leather and mohair trim with seating for a handful of passengers. The nine-passenger Beech Model 18 Twin Beech, which came along in 1937, was among the first specifically marketed for business travelers. The Gulfstream I came along in 1958, manufactured by Grumman as a straight-wing turboprop and priced at $1 million. And the Learjet, created by William P. Lear Sr., hit the skies in 1963. ("Since its first flight, the innovative aircraft, built to replicate the performance and amenities of a commercial airliner, has been tantamount with executive business travel," noted the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission back in 2003.)
Myriad business aircraft progressions--as well as the occasional flop--followed. The 1964 Beech Model 90 King Air, a twin-engine turboprop for the business set, launched a series of models that eventually accounted for 90% of its aircraft class. Meanwhile, designer Burt Rutan's (See "Tastemakers: Industrial Designers") innovative lightweight composite, "pusher propeller"-driven Beech Model 2000 Starship, which was introduced in 1983, managed to sell only 53 models--no doubt thanks in part to its $5 million price tag.
In 1979, the business jet Gulfstream III managed a range of 4,174 miles; the Gulfstream IV, introduced in 1985, took it up to 7,223 miles. That lush, $24 million custom-built jet, which boasted oak furnishings, leather sofas and room for up to 19 passengers, was much faster than commercial jumbo jets, and it proved a godsend for harried executives.
Size and performance remain the names of the game in the business/private aircraft genre. That's why corporations are forking over big bucks for the roominess and comfort of business aircraft like the
To assure your travel is more than suitable--whether it is for business or pleasure--we've compiled a list of 11 of the most expensive private aircraft across a range of classifications, with the help of Paul Jackson, editor of Jane's All The World's Aircraft, and GAMA. The list includes "executive style" jets, suitable for CEOs and traveling corporate boards; top-of-the-line birds for smaller-scale business types and even a helicopter.
Unless otherwise noted, prices are for the aircraft when "typically equipped," which is what the aircraft would cost with a typical set of options. Regardless, they all know how to soar--and we're not just talking prices.
View a slide show of 11 of the priciest private planes in the skies.