Best Light Jets
Light jets are the entry point to jet travel — efficient, able to use shorter runways, and ideal for regional trips with a handful of passengers. The trade-off is cabin size and range. Below are the light jets in our catalog, ordered by range.
How this is ranked: Business jets with a maximum take-off weight under 20,000 lb, ranked by maximum range. Independent and spec-driven — we rank on the merits, not on who's selling. Figures are verified specifications. How we work.
- Citation CJ4 Gen2Range 2,165 nmCruise 451 ktsUp to 10 pax
- 2Citation CJ3+Range 2,040 nmCruise 416 ktsUp to 9 pax
- 3Phenom 300ERange 2,010 nmCruise 453 ktsUp to 10 pax
- 4PC-24Range 2,000 nmCruise 440 ktsUp to 11 pax
- 5Citation CJ2+Range 1,613 nmCruise 418 ktsUp to 7 pax
- 6Citation M2 Gen2Range 1,550 nmCruise 404 ktsUp to 7 pax
- 7HondaJet HA-420Range 1,437 nmCruise 422 ktsUp to 6 pax
- 8Hawker 400XPRange 1,430 nmCruise 450 ktsUp to 8 pax
- 9Vision Jet SF50Range 1,275 nmCruise 305 ktsUp to 7 pax
- 10Phenom 100EVRange 1,178 nmCruise 390 ktsUp to 7 pax
- 11Citation MustangRange 1,150 nmCruise 340 ktsUp to 5 pax
How to choose between them
Range separates this class less than the table suggests, because most light-jet missions are well inside every entry's reach. The numbers that actually differentiate them are cabin cross-section and length (an hour is comfortable anywhere; three hours is not), baggage volume for your typical load, and runway performance at the short or hot-and-high fields that often justify a light jet in the first place.
Two structural questions narrow the field quickly: whether single-pilot certification matters to you (it changes crewing cost and, for owner-pilots, the whole proposition), and whether your longest regular sector fits with honest reserves and real winds — if it only fits on the brochure number, you are shopping one class too small.