April 11, 2024
Of more than three million private flights in North America last year, the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 used by Surf Air, Nicholas Air and PlaneSense was the most popular.
Turboprops rule! At least when it comes to which makes are the most popular with private flyers. According to just-released research from TRAQPak, there were 226,378 flights with the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 making it not only the most popular aircraft in its category (see below), but also the most favored airplane among Bizav users.
The second most popular private chariot was the King Air 200 (Wheels Up uses the King Air350i as the backbone of its Jet Card fleet) with 175,761 flights, most of any multi-engine turboprop. The most popular private jet and third overall were the Citation Excel and derivatives Citation XLS and Citation XLS+ racking up 170,946 flights, placing it tops in the Mid-Size category. You can find this type in the NetJets, Nicholas Air and Delta Private Jets as well as with many broker Jet Cards.
The most popular Very Light Jet is Embraer’s Phenom 100 which you can find with JetSuite and Nicholas Air. The P100 had 39,310 takeoffs in North America in 2017. The Citation V and its cousins Citation Ultra, Citation Encore and Citation Encore + combine for 104,205 flights making it the most popular Light Jet. The Bombardier Challenger 300 was the most popular Super Mid Jet with 92,724 flights. It can be found in the Jet Card programs of Flexjet, XOJET, NetJets, Magellan Jets and others.
In terms of Large Jets and Super Long Range Jets, Gulfstream won both categories. Variations of its G-IV and G450, found with NetJets, clocked 84,613 flights while its GV series flew 48,281 missions.
Source: ARGUS TRAQPak
