Bombardier Learjet 60XR

Where it came from

The Learjet 60 was Bombardier's stretch of the Learjet 55: a longer fuselage and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 turbofans in place of the older Garretts. It first flew on 10 October 1990, was certified by the FAA in January 1993 and entered service the same month. The brief was to keep the Learjet reputation for climb and pace while giving the cabin enough length to fight the Citation III and the Hawker 800 — a fight the type won on speed and lost on volume.

Bombardier built 318 of the base Model 60 before replacing it in 2007 with the 60XR, launched in 2005. The XR is the same airframe and engines with a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 flight deck and a redesigned interior; it dominates the European charter fleet and is the version these figures describe. Production ran to 2013, by which point 430 Model 60s of all versions had been built. Bombardier announced the end of Learjet production altogether in February 2021.

For a charter client that history reads two ways. There are no new airframes, so cabins vary by owner and refit and the avionics are of their decade. But the type is plentiful and values are low, which is why it remains the cheapest way into the class.

Who charters a Learjet 60XR

Most 60XR bookings are four to seven people who want jet pace and a genuine four-hour European reach at the bottom of the midsize price band: London to Athens, Geneva to Casablanca, Milan to Cairo, non-stop, with the seats full.

The choice usually comes down to two neighbours. Against a super-light Citation XLS+, the Learjet buys roughly 850 km of extra range and 12 cm of cabin width for about €400 more an hour — and gives up airports to get them. Against the Hawker 900XP, the type it is most often quoted alongside, the Learjet is cheaper and climbs harder, while the Hawker offers a metre more cabin, baggage you can reach in flight and London City. Long legs into major airports suit the Learjet. Short legs into small ones do not.

The runway, and the airports that are out

Read this before anything else. The 60XR needs a balanced field of 1,661 m at maximum weight at sea level, rising to 2,597 m from a 5,000 ft airport at ISA+20. The cause is structural: a small, fast wing on wheels, tyres and brakes inherited from the 1970s Learjets, which gives high take-off speeds. Crews carry a rule of thumb for it — 5,000 ft of runway dry, 6,000 wet, 7,000 contaminated.

Landing is not the problem; 929 m and the aircraft is stopped. Departure is. London City, 1,508 m with a mandatory 5.5-degree approach the type is not approved for, is out. Cannes-Mandelieu, 1,610 m, is out. Samedan, 1,800 m at 5,600 ft of elevation, is out at any useful weight. Sion is a dry-day, weight-limited proposition. Nice, Geneva, Ibiza, Luton and Farnborough are non-events.

The cabin, the hold, and range with every seat sold

The cabin is 5.40 m long, 1.80 m wide and 1.73 m high, with a flat floor. The width is the good news: 12 cm more than a Citation XLS+, and a larger cross-section than the Citation III the type was built against. The height is the honest part — 1.73 m is upright for anyone under about 5 ft 8 in and a stoop for everyone else. The tube is the shortest in the class too, 447 cu ft against roughly 600 for a Hawker 800.

The lavatory is at the rear, full width, behind a solid door and externally serviced; it also houses the emergency exit. Baggage is 1.67 m³, about six suitcases, split roughly half and half: an external aft compartment sealed once the door closes, and a section by the lavatory you can reach in flight. Range is the steadiest number here — the published 4,250 km is a four-passenger figure, and with all seven seats sold you still plan on about 4,050 km.

The corridors it actually flies

Realistic block times, cabin full, no fuel stop: London–Geneva about 1h 25m, London–Nice 1h 40m, London–Milan 1h 50m, Geneva–Ibiza 1h 40m, London–Barcelona 2h 10m, London–Ibiza 2h 30m. The practical sector limit is around five hours, which covers the Mediterranean, North Africa, Scandinavia and the Canaries; the Gulf needs a stop or a bigger aircraft.

One number to treat carefully: you will see 466 kt quoted as the 60XR's maximum cruise. The placard limit is indeed Mach 0.81, but above 37,000 ft the aircraft is held to Mach 0.78 for buffet margin, so real high-speed cruise is 446 kt — about 825 km/h, the figure we publish and the one these block times are built on. What the type does deliver is climb: 41,000 ft in around eighteen minutes.

What moves the price

Charter starts from around €4,000 per flight hour, and on a midsize quote the 60XR is usually the cheapest tail on the sheet. The rate is rarely the whole answer. Aircraft are not parked where you need them, so the positioning leg goes on your quote — and because the type is particular about runways, the nearest 60XR is not always a candidate.

Crew duty is the next lever: an early departure with a late return can exceed what one crew may legally fly, and a second crew or a night stop moves the number. Then the calendar — Cannes in May, the Monaco weekend, Alpine half-term, August on the Riviera — which prices slots and handling at Nice, Geneva and Sion. Every trip is quoted individually.