Hawker 900XP

Where it came from

The 900XP is the last chapter of a design that first flew as the de Havilland DH.125 in August 1962. British Aerospace approved a thorough rebuild of the aircraft in April 1981, and the resulting Hawker 800 flew on 26 June 1983 with a new wing and a redesigned rear fuselage. The 800XP followed in 1995 and sold 475 examples in ten years, which made it the definitive midsize jet of its generation.

The last two variants are refinements of that. The 850XP, certified in March 2006, added winglets worth about 100 nm of range. The 900XP, announced in October 2006 and certified in August 2007, kept the winglets and changed the engines to Honeywell TFE731-50R: more thrust, better hot-and-high performance and better fuel burn at altitude, which is where its 5,200 km comes from. It was built until 2013, when Beechcraft emerged from the Hawker Beechcraft bankruptcy and discontinued the jet lines. Around 650 aircraft were built across the 800 series in thirty years.

What that means for a charter client is straightforward. The type will not be built again. But it is everywhere in Europe, crews fly it every week, parts are common, and it is still the most cabin per euro in the class.

Who charters a Hawker 900XP

The 900XP is what a broker reaches for when six to eight people need real cabin for two to five hours and the budget stops short of super-midsize: corporate groups moving between European offices, families going south for a week with the luggage that implies, and anyone whose departure or arrival is London City.

Against the Learjet 60XR at the bottom of the class, the Hawker gives up some climb performance and buys a metre more cabin, an in-flight hold and far better airport access, for about €200 an hour. Against the Citation Latitude at the top, it is roughly €400 an hour cheaper and holds its range better with a full cabin; the Latitude answers with a flat floor, a stand-up cabin and a newer airframe. Against a super-light Phenom 300 or XLS+, it is a class up in every dimension and priced accordingly.

The cabin, and the hold you can reach in flight

The cabin is 6.50 m long and 1.83 m wide — the widest floor among the older midsize jets — usually in a double-club layout for eight, with a forward galley carrying a microwave and cold storage and a fully enclosed lavatory with a solid door at the rear. Headroom is 1.75 m, but it is measured down a dropped aisle: there is a trough between the seat rows rather than a flat floor, so you walk in it slightly stooped and step up to your seat. That is the honest description; a flat floor in this class means a Citation Latitude.

Baggage is where the type earns its keep. The 1.42 m³ hold is inside the pressure vessel, heated, pressurised and reachable from the cabin in flight — around seven suitcases, or the skis and golf bags that normally start a negotiation. Most rivals put their volume in an external compartment that is sealed the moment the door closes.

Airports, and range with every seat sold

Balanced field length is 1,603 m at maximum weight and the aircraft lands in 696 m, which is comfortable at every major European field and workable at most secondary ones; from a 5,000 ft airport at 25 °C it needs about 2,020 m. The card the type holds is steep approach: the Hawker 800/850/900 family is routinely chartered into London City, subject to the individual aircraft carrying the approval and the crew being LCY-qualified. We confirm both on the specific tail before quoting.

The limits are at the extremes. Cannes-Mandelieu, 1,610 m, is possible only weight-limited; Samedan, 1,800 m at 5,600 ft of elevation, is marginal to out. Sion and Ibiza are fine. Range holds up better than most: the published 5,200 km is a four-passenger figure, and with all eight seats sold you still plan on roughly 5,060 km — full-fuel payload is the best in the class.

The corridors it actually flies

Block times with the cabin full and no fuel stop: Geneva–Nice about 55 minutes, London–Geneva 1h 25m, London–Nice 1h 40m, London–Milan 1h 50m, London–Ibiza 2h 30m, London–Larnaca 4h 30m. The signature mission is the short one — London City to Nice or Geneva, out of an airport most of the class cannot use.

At the long end the practical sector is about five and a half hours, which puts Cairo, Reykjavik, the Canaries and much of the Middle East within a single leg from Western Europe. Geneva to Dubai sits inside the book range with four passengers and helpful winds, but it is a day on which the winds decide, and we would rather quote a super-midsize than sell you a fuel stop you did not plan for.

What moves the price

Charter starts from around €4,200 per flight hour. With a type out of production since 2013, the individual aircraft matters more than usual: two 900XPs on the same ramp can be quoted several hundred euros an hour apart depending on interior, connectivity, engine programme and how recently the cabin was refurbished.

Positioning is most of the rest. The aircraft is priced from where it is, not from where you are, so a same-day return often costs less than two one-ways and an empty leg costs less than either. Crew duty limits shape long days, and a second crew or a night stop changes the total. Seasonality does the remainder — the Riviera in August, the Alps at half-term, and the weekends when Nice and Geneva ration slots. London City handling is its own line on the quote.