The Boeing 737 will be known to most of us as the workhorse employed by budget airlines globally to meet tight turnarounds and make several journeys a day. Ryanair and Southwest Airlines are among those that effectively solely deploy variants of the 737 thanks to the family’s versatility and strong cost-efficiency, for instance.

But such characteristics also make the 737 ideal for work at the opposite end of the spectrum: charter flights. Able to carry around 200 passengers onboard for frequently made short to medium-haul journeys, the 737’s size also makes it ideal for roomier configurations geared to the likes of corporate events, sports teams, and bands. Of course, hiring out one’s own 737 comes at a cost, so for the purpose of simply flying aboard one of the aircraft, a cheap ticket from Ryanair or Southwest would make far more sense. For those intrigued or even convinced, though, below we will explore how much chartering a private 737 could be.

Several Thousands Of Dollars… Per Hour

Credit: Shutterstock

As could be expected, privately hiring out a 737 is not cheap. Based on charter firms’ online listings, the price can sit as low as $5,800 and stretch to around $30,000. While that may not be as eye-watering as anticipated on the surface, that is actually the rate per hour. As such, it would not be unreasonable to expect to fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars when chartering a 737 privately.

Prices do vary massively, though, with the lowest of the two figures found online above coming from EvoJets. Based in New York, the on-demand charter firm arranges flights to 119 countries for the likes of “executive, medical, or cargo needs”. If one requests its Boeing 737-300 specifically, prices are said to sit between $5,800 and $7,800 per hour.

At the other end, Orlando-based Stratos Jets advertises its starting 737 charter service price at $27,830-plus per hour. Why the step-up is so stark is down to Stratos’ position as a broker, rather than an operator. Indeed, the company itself lists the average hourly 737 charter price at $25,000, but its own role in taking “care of all of the arrangements” explains why a premium would be paid in this case. Several other firms sit in the middle on cost, including agency Paramount Business Jets, which charges around $21,050 an hour.

Route, Aircraft Age, Season Dictate The Price

Credit: Shutterstock

Much like for standard commercial flight tickets, a huge range of factors go into determining how much someone will end up paying to charter an aircraft for a private flight. As the Stratos example shows, opting for a broker to sort a charter aircraft on one’s behalf can mean paying thousands of dollars more for each hour alone.

According to European charter specialist Simply Jet, there are some key variables behind the price tag of a private flight. The “hourly rate can vary significantly based on several factors,” the firm explains on its website. These include “the year of manufacture, duration of the flight, the request lead time, airport fees, flight routing, the time of year, the service provider, among other factors”. Importantly, some costs may not be included in the operator’s hourly rate, so they could be charged separately. As per Air Charter Advisors, these can include fuel, taxes, crew charges, catering, ground transport, or even de-icing, for instance.

Boeing 737 Max family specifications, from manufacturer’s figures:

Operators appear to be as accommodating as possible for passengers, as is common at the luxury end of air travel. From filling last-minute bookings to carrying out specific requests from groups, charter firms do look to be pretty flexible. But, such service will naturally come at a price, and the cost to the passenger for a flight at short notice, say, will be huge and difficult to quantify, given different parameters behind each individual booking.

Range And Capacity Of The Private Boeing 737

Credit: Shutterstock

For the tens of, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars spent, it is worth delving into what one will actually get from privately chartering a 737. Of course, age and specific model will play a part, but generally, a spacious cabin for upwards of 50 or so passengers could be expected.

Air Charter Service, another charter operator, flies its Boeing 737-700 VIP in two configurations with space for either 62 or 56 passengers. “Both offer superior seat pitch of up to 46 inches (116,84 cm) and plenty of space to stretch your legs,” the company’s Jets Manager for London, Peter Philpott, explains. In the latter, two tables offer space for eight passengers to sit and dine or work while aboard.

Boeing 737 Next Generation family specifications, from manufacturer’s figures:

In terms of distances, Air Charter Service notes its 737 VIP can fly for up to eight hours, but is usually limited to five-hour journeys with a full payload, making it “ideal for multi-stop global tours”. Personalized catering is then among other perks on offer, alongside the likes of private terminal access.

Is It More Expensive to Charter An Airbus?

Credit: Shutterstock

Given its size, Boeing’s 737 is on the pricier end of the scale to charter. Privately hiring the smallest jets available, like the Citation Mustang, will cost closer to $2,900 an hour based on Paramount Business Jet figures. While cheaper overall, the jet only holds up to four passengers typically, so the price per person could actually be well above that of a 737 if the latter is kitted out with the 162 seats usually labelled by Paramount.

In terms of jets similar to the $21,050-per-hour Boeing 737-800 listed on Paramount’s website, variants of the Airbus A319 and Airbus A320 sit closest in comparison. The former, with room for up to 156 passengers, would set private passengers back $18,600 per hour onboard. The larger A320 could then see customers charged $22,300 hourly under Paramount’s prices.

Where the 737 might just not be big enough, larger aircraft are also available to charter. Once again, this comes at a cost, and Paramount puts the hourly rate for an Airbus A330 at $30,950. As with other widebodies, prices will be higher, but additional space – with the typical capacity listed by Paramount for the A330 at 400 seats – may mean that, per person, a larger aircraft is actually more economically viable.

Empty Leg Flights

Credit: Shutterstock

For the absolute best price on chartering aircraft, passengers must be open-minded about where they go and on which model. Dubbed “empty leg flights,” journeys made out of necessity to reposition private aircraft, which would otherwise go empty, are sometimes sold off on the cheap.

GlobeAir lists several such flights online for those seeking a bit of luxury at a reasonable price, with a sale in turn offering the company some revenue for a flight that had to go anyway. As of mid-May, these included a service from London to Dortmund, one from London to Amsterdam, and another from Budapest to Vienna, to pick out a handful.

Although each flight mentioned above would make for a very short journey in the air, for the prices listed, it might be hard to complain. Where the charter from London to Dortmund would be worth north of €10,000 ($11,748) normally, GlobeAir was selling it for €1,290 – a discount of 87%.

A Lucrative Market

Credit: Shutterstock

In all, how much it costs to charter a 737 really depends on the amount one might be willing to spend. No doubt, it will normally cost upwards of several thousand dollars, with a long flight booked through one of the most accommodating operators, probably putting the figure into the hundreds of thousands. At the average $25,000 per hour, all it takes is a four-hour flight, remember, and that is before additional costs.

It is no surprise that chartering jets can be a highly lucrative practice for operators in return. In fact, it is something that has enticed European carrier Jet2 most recently, with one of its 737-800s set to be available for charter flights from this October to May next year. Equipped with 76 business-class seats, the product is anticipated to draw “sports, music, entertainment and specialist group customers,” per the airline.