Bombardier Challenger 850

Where it came from

The Canadair Regional Jet programme was launched in early 1989, the prototype flew on 10 May 1991, and Lufthansa CityLine put the type into service on 19 October 1992. The CRJ200 followed with more efficient General Electric CF34-3B1 engines and flew its first revenue service with SkyWest on 15 February 1994. When the line closed in 2006 it had delivered 1,021 aircraft, 709 of them CRJ200s.

The corporate conversion started in 1996 as the Challenger SE, later called the Challenger 800. In May 2005 Bombardier relaunched the idea properly, announcing a family of three airliner-derived corporate shuttles at once: the Challenger 850 on the CRJ200, and the 870 and 890 on the larger CRJ700 and CRJ900. The first 850 was delivered in 2006 and the line closed in 2012 after 71 deliveries.

For a charter customer the airline parentage is the commercial point, not a piece of trivia. CF34 engines, CRJ spares and CRJ-rated engineers exist in quantity on every continent, so an airframe the size of a Global costs Challenger money to keep flying. That is the whole reason a fourteen-seat cabin with two lavatories is offered from about €7,200 an hour rather than €11,000. Most of the surviving fleet works in Europe and the Middle East, much of it in charter rather than private ownership.

Who charters a Challenger 850

Ten to fourteen people who need to travel as one group, on a trip that stays inside the 850's range: a board on a European roadshow, a squad and its staff, a family with three generations and the luggage that comes with them, a production unit with cases. The type moves the whole party in one hull, with room to hold a meeting at the table and put someone to bed at the back at the same time.

The neighbours each answer a different question. The Challenger 605 uses the same fuselage cross-section but 8.61 m of it, seats twelve, and flies 7,400 km — it is the one you take across the Atlantic. The Legacy 650 offers thirteen seats and an 8.1 m³ hold reachable in flight on 7,200 km. The 850 is the cabin-first answer, and it is only the right one when the sector is short enough. It sets the bottom of the heavy-jet range band at 5,200 km and the top of the class for cabin volume, which is what a cabin-first aircraft looks like: the class is defined by what you sit in, not by how far it goes.

What 5,200 km actually means

5,200 km is 2,811 nm at long-range cruise with NBAA IFR reserves. Put fourteen people and their baggage aboard and plan on 2,500–2,700 nm instead, which is 4,600–5,000 km. Our table publishes ≈850 km/h, which is high-speed cruise; the range is calculated at long-range cruise, nearer 790 km/h. You do not get both on the same flight.

Said plainly: every Europe–US sector needs a fuel stop, London–New York included. At about 3,000 nm the Atlantic is roughly 400 nm beyond a full-cabin 850, so the crew plans Keflavik, Shannon or Gander. London–Dubai at around 5,500 km sits on the edge and depends on the day's winds — we treat it as a tech stop unless the numbers work. Europe, the Mediterranean, Cyprus, North Africa and the Canaries are all comfortable nonstop.

Inside the cabin

14.76 m from the cockpit divider to the end of the pressurised compartment, 2.49 m across at the centreline and 2.19 m at the floor, 1.85 m of stand-up height, flat floor. Around 56 m³ of cabin volume, the largest in the heavy class. Three zones: a forward lounge, a conference and dining section, and a private aft stateroom behind a door. Two lavatories — nothing else in the class has a second one. Full galley with a wardrobe, seven sleeping positions in operator listings, no shower.

Baggage is 5.72 m³, around twenty cases, against 3.2–3.3 m³ on a Challenger 605. Whether the hold is reachable in flight depends on how the individual aircraft is configured, so we confirm that per tail rather than promise it for the type. Crew is two pilots and a flight attendant as standard. Wi-Fi is fitted to most charter 850s; again, tail-specific.

The corridors it flies

Realistic block times with all fourteen seats sold and no fuel stop: London–Geneva about 1 h 30 m, London–Nice 1 h 45 m, London–Barcelona 2 h 15 m, London–Ibiza 2 h 35 m, London–Larnaca 4 h 40 m. The working sector limit is around 6 h 30 m, which reaches Cyprus, the Canaries and the Gulf's near edge and leaves the Atlantic to a 605 or a Global.

The airliner heritage shows on the ground as well as in the air. Balanced field length is 1,922 m at maximum weight, the longest of the four heavy jets, and the aircraft is 26.77 m long with a 21.21 m span. Luton, Farnborough, Geneva, Nice, Ibiza, Barcelona and Larnaca take it without comment. Sion, Samedan and Cannes–Mandelieu do not — that is the Falcon 2000LXS's ground, and parking in peak season is worth booking early.

What moves the price

From around €7,200 per flight hour, quoted against a specific aircraft and specific dates. The hourly rate is the smaller half of the answer.

Positioning first. There are fewer 850s in Europe than 605s, so the nearest free one may be a longer empty leg away, and that leg is on your quote. A same-day return usually beats two one-ways.

Crew duty next. Fourteen passengers, a long day and a late return can push past what one crew may legally fly; a night stop or a second crew both show up in the number.

Then the airport. An aircraft this size pays airliner-scale handling and parking, and at Nice in August or Cannes in festival week the slot and the stand are the hard part, not the jet. Fuel stops, where the sector needs one, add landing and handling fees on top of the ground time.