If you are looking at owning, operating or leasing an Eclipse 550 very light jet, operating costs for the jet are one of the most important areas to look at. The Eclipse 550 operating costs are spread out over many areas. The main areas include: the aircraft itself (fuel cost), insurance, storage/parking/hanger, maintenance, training, and if need crew costs. Below is an overview of each of the costs for each of these sections. With this information you should be able to create a cost formula / projections after doing some research.
Eclipse 550 Operating Costs – The Aircraft
In this section we discuss the cost of buying the aircraft, fuel costs / fuel burn of the jet and how it compares to other aircraft.
The cost of the jet it's self could be part of the operating costs if you want to include it. Currently the cost for a new Eclipse 550 jet is $2,895,000 USD with out any upgrades like auto throttles. You will then need to factor in any sales and registration taxes that you will have to pay in order purchase the jet. If your are leasing the aircraft, you can also factor the lease numbers in to your operating costs.
Eclipse Aerospace has continuously stated that the Eclipse 550 uses around 48 to 59 gallons of Jet A per hour. Fuel costs for a trip will vary based on the operating conditions (weather, altitude, etc) and will also vary based on the cost Jet A fuel. By averaging the high and low numbers for fuel consumption, you get 53.5 gallons per hour. The jet's cruse speed is 375 knots (nautical miles). On a 750 nautical mile trip you would fly approximately 2 hours and burn 107 gallons of Jet A. This gives you a fuel burn of approximately 0.14 gallons per mile or 7 miles per gallon of Jet A. You can then just multiply the 0.14 gallon per mile by the miles flown to get a rough estimate of the fuel costs. By having an idea of how much you are going to fly per year you can then get an estimate of your operating costs for fuel. Flying 300 hours per year would cost you $88,275 USD (Jet A $5.50 / Gallons) based on these estimates. If you want a more accurate fuel usage numbers you will need to look at the aircraft flight manual, use flight planning software or use Eclipse's application for iOS to get even more accurate numbers. When comparing the to other jets, the Eclipse 550 does have the lowest fuel costs of any jet commercial jet built today. Even though it has the lowest fuel costs, you will have to factor in the cost of the jet and the rest of the operating costs listed below to find out if the jet does have the lowest operating costs.
Also the Eclipse 550 is an updated and completed version of the Eclipse 500, you will see better performance when compared to Eclipse 500s that do not have all of the upgrades.
Insurance Costs for the Eclipse 550 Jet
Another area of operating costs for the very light jet is the cost of insuring the aircraft. The cost for Eclipse 550 should be less then many Eclipse 500s because it has more safety features then many Eclipse 500s. Also training most likely will be a factor in rates, so make sure your training provider is approved with the insurance company you chose. Currently we do not have any pricing information on this. Check around with insurance companies to see the pricing of insurance for the Eclipse 550.
Storage, Parking and Hanger Costs for the Eclipse 550
One you have your Eclipse 550, you will need a place to park it. This will add to the costs of operating the jet. You will need to check with the airports you are interested in to see what they charge for parking or hanger space. Also you need to make sure they have hangers available. You can also check with fixed based operators (FBOs), as many of them also offer parking / hanger space. At some airport there are companies that just build hangers to rent out, so also check to see if one of these companies is at your airport. The best option for storing an Eclipse 550 is to use a hanger as this will keep your jet more protected from the elements.
Eclipse 550 Maintenance Costs
An important part of the operating cost for the Eclipse 550 is maintenance. Maintenance can be one of the big costs of owning an aircraft. The good news is that if you get a new Eclipse 550 you will have the 3 year warranty from Eclipse. Even with this warranty you will need to have the aircraft inspected regularly and follow all Eclipse maintenance procedures. Eclipse Aerospace does have a managed maintenance program that takes care of all the maintenance. For the engines, Pratt & Whitney Canada offers it's Eagle Service Program (ESP) as a pay-per-hour (flight hour) program that covers engine maintenance. Currently we do not have estimates for maintenance costs. Contact Eclipse Aerospace and other maintenance facilities (also Eclipse approved maintenance companies) to find out more about the costs.
Eclipse 550 Training Costs
Training costs for the jet will be one of the lower cost items. The cost to get a type rating in the jet usually cost around $10,000 - $15,000. You may need recurrent training every year or so that could cost a couple thousand dollars. Also if you are not going to be flying the jet, you will need to factor these costs to your pilots.
Pilot Costs
If you are not going to be flying the jet or will also have other pilots fly sometimes, you will need to factor the cost of paying these pilots to fly the jet.
With all this information and some additional research you should be able to get an idea of the cost of operating the Eclipse 550 jet.
If your company provides services to Eclipse 550 operators, contact our aviation resources team to learn how you can be listed here at no cost.
Above Eclipse 550 Photo of an Total Eclipse 500, the "launch Eclipse 550" by Jetrequest.com on Wikimedia Commons. Photo (only) released under a Creative Commons license.
