7 Of The Largest Private Jets In The World

Commercial air travel is not fun for anyone. From having to get to the airport early to the annoying security checkpoints to the outrageous airport prices for food and drink, it is all one big headache, and that is before you even get on the plane with its cramped legroom, crying babies, and a headphone jack in the armrest that requires you to bend your cord in just the right way to get clear sound. Even if you have the money to spend on a first class ticket with a lie-flat seat, you could still be subject to endure things like unexpected delays and so many other frustrations millions of other flyers deal with on a daily basis.

Because of this, the allure of a private jet is always on our minds. Although dedicating an entire aircraft to a small group of people can be incredibly harmful to the environment, many of us dream about being able to just hop on our own plane to jet off to wherever we want in luxury. Naturally, you have to be an incredibly wealthy person to be able to get yourself and a small group of people on your own flight, but even many wealthy folks get priced out of being able to take on some of the biggest private jets in the world. These are aircraft designed for heads of state and multi-billionaires, not necessarily your average NBA player or musician. There are some true behemoths in the sky for private air travel, and we are going to spotlight seven of those jets here.

[Featured image by Boeing Dreamscape via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]

When it comes to the largest private jets out in the world, there is a lot of crossover between commercial airliners and the private sector. If someone has enough money, then they have the ability to take a commercial plane and renovate it into their own private jet. More so than any other airplane manufacturer, Boeing is willing to convert some of its largest planes for private use, and the largest one that has currently been made is the Boeing Business Jet 777-9.

When this has been put into commercial use, it is able to hold 426 seats across two different classes, and with its fully extended wingspan of 235 feet and 5 inches, it bests the second place finisher in size by roughly 11 feet. Boeing was able to redesign the Business Jet 777-9 with the help of the German company Lufthansa Technik AG, packing as much luxury as they possibly can within the 340 square meter cabin.

This design was given the name CelestialSTAR and debuted at the Dubai Airshow in 2023 and has not actually made its way to full on production yet. It takes many of its design cues from Middle Eastern aesthetics and features elements like an immersive entertainment center, complete with a 180-degree projection screen. It will be some time before it actually hits the skies, but orders for the 777-9 have already started.

[Featured image by Dan Nevill via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]

As for the private jets that are actually can get up into the air right now, you still have to go over to Boeing for one of the best jets in the sky. The "Queen of the Skies" has been in production since the 1960s, and it is the Boeing 747-8i that is the queen among queens when it comes to operating as a private jet, which took its first flight back in 2011.

With a going rate of around $400 million, this two-level aircraft features just everything you hope to find in a luxurious private jet, from a full bedroom suite complete with a full bathroom, a dining room, and lounges for all on board. To give you a full picture of the size of this plane, when the 787-8i is in commercial mode, it is able to hold 467 passengers across three different classes, and it features a wingspan of 224 feet and 7 inches.

Two Boeing 747-8i models are currently being constructed as the replacement for Air Force One for the President of the United States. Delivery was supposed to be made by the end of 2024, but delays have caused a postponement to 2027 or 2028 instead. Boeing ended all production on the 747 family in 2023, so this new Air Force One 747-8i could very well be the last one ever made.

[Featured image by moonm via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0]

Boeing may be responsible for most of the largest private jets in the world, but it is not responsible for all of them, including what is currently the second largest one in service. For that, you need to just look over at Boeing's biggest competitor, Airbus. First introduced in 1993, the Airbus A340-300 was the aircraft the supplanted the Boeing 767-200ER as the largest jet for private use and would remain the largest for almost 20 years thanks to a wingspan of nearly 198 feet.

Many different companies offer the A340-300 for private charter, including AirX, Air Partner, Paramount Business Jets, and more. If you were to charter it, you would probably be getting a configuration that would hold up to 100 passengers, all of whom would receive the equivalent of a first class seat. However, if you are willing to put down $236 million to purchase your own model, you have the ability to customize it to meet your own needs, which would of course cost even more money.

Like so many of these planes, the Airbus A340-300 has been used for a variety of different government and military bodies. In December 2023, it was announced that Germany was looking to sell its A340-300 — nicknamed the "Merkel One" — that it had been using since 2011. Beyond that, people such as Uzbek billionaire Alisher Bourkanovich Usmanov have chosen this aircraft as their private jet as well.

[Featured image by Ken Fielding via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]

While the first two entries on this list are fairly recent additions to Boeing's private aircraft arsenal, the company also has some models that are many decades old that still rank among the largest private jets in the sky. One of these is the Boeing 767-200ER. The 200 variation of the wide-body airliner started service in 1982, but the ER — which is short for "extended range" — model took off two years later, making this year the 40th anniversary of this aircraft. It is a significant step-down from the Boeing 787-8i in terms of wingspan, with it being around 156 feet, but when it was first introduced, it was the largest private jet on the market and would remain so for nearly a decade.

A number of different countries have their own Boeing 767-200ER in operation, such as Colombia and the Republic of Djibouti, as pictured above. Since these are older planes, they may be a bit more attainable than the other Boeing models previously mentioned, rather than exclusive to the wealthiest of the wealthy. One of the most famous people with a Boeing 767-200ER private jet is hip-hop megastar Drake, who uses a 1996 model that been owned and operated by the Saudi Arabia charter plane company Mid East Jet for 22 years. Naturally, Drake calls his plane "Air Drake." However, Drake does not actually own his 767-200ER, and Canadian company Cargojet actually purchased and customized the plane and allows Drake to use it free of charge whenever he pleases.

[Featured image by Toshiro Aoki via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]

The Boeing 767-200ER is not the only member of the 767 family that gets utilized as a private jet. You can also find the super wealthy investing in a Boeing 767-33AER for their flight needs. In terms of size, it is basically identical to the 200ER with the same 156-foot wingspan. Although it is given the 33A name, that is actually just a variation of the 300 plane, and the 3A designation is to show that the plane was originally delivered to the Irish airline company Ansett Worldwide, or AWWAS, which is now defunct after being acquired by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise.

One of the more famous owners of a Boeing 767-33AER was Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, former owner of the Chelsea Football Club. He purchased his model back in 2004 after Hawaiian Airlines cancelled its order of the aircraft, and the plane nicknamed "The Bandit" is now worth a whopping $170 million. Abramovich sold his jet back in 2021 in order to upgrade to the previously mentioned 787-8i.

Like its sister plane, countries use the 300ER model either for governmental purposes or military ones, such as Chile. The 767-33A is also a plane available for charter if the cost of owning one is still too much money. With Private Jet Charter, you could charter one of these planes from LAX in Los Angeles, CA to JFK in New York City, NY for $31,250, and that is only for a one-way trip.

[Featured image by Roland Nussbaumer via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | GNU Free Documentation License]

The very first entry on this list, the Boeing 777-9, comes from the Boeing Business Jet department of the company. Instead of it being a commercial airliner that is subsequently converted to a private jet, it is designed to be a plane for private and corporate usage to begin with. In response to the creation of this division in the late 1990s, Airbus decided to create a direct competition for this called Airbus Corporate Jets, or ACJ for short. The largest of this group is called the ACJ TwoTwenty, which is the private version of the company's commercial A220-100 aircraft.

With a wingspan of a little over 115 feet, it is on the smaller side of the aircraft on this list, but it is still large enough to crack the top 10 largest private jets in the world. Airbus first announced this plane back in 2020, and it was finally delivered in May 2023 to FIVE Hotels and Resorts for charter use. In terms of actual purchases of this plane by individuals, it has so far only happened twice, and neither person has been publicly disclosed, though they were expected to be delivered in 2024. The ACJ TwoTwenty does boast a $100 million price tag to produce, and with it being so new, do not expect there to be dozens of these flying all over the place anytime soon.

[Featured image by Romain COUPY via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]

Boeing and Airbus both dominate the large-scale private jet market, just as they do the commercial airline market. However, that does not mean that there are no other companies out there making very large aircraft for private usage. When it comes to the top 10 largest that are out there right now, only one other company is able to crack that list, and the largest private jet that it makes is the Bombardier Global 7500/8000 series.

Unlike the other two companies, Bombardier deals exclusively in jets for private and business use, and with a wingspan of 104 feet, the Global planes are the largest models compared to the company's Challenger series. Not only that, but it is one of the fastest private jets in the world. In May 2021, while the jet was being tested, one of the models nicknamed "The Masterpiece" actually broke the sound barrier, making it the first business jet to ever do so.

This is also the kind of private jet that is more suited to the wealth of your typical A-list celebrity, as it is use by people like Kylie Jenner and Céline Dion. On average, a Bombardier Global 7500 will run you around $75 million, though they can be chartered as well, with 155 models in active service. Bombardier private jets may not be as massive as what Boeing and Airbus can produce, but that does not make them any less desirable to those who can afford them.

[Featured image by Bidgee via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0 AU]