Advantage? Avantair.
Last week, I wrote a post about how Avantair is making it easy for environmentally concerned fractional jet owners to offset the carbon emissions of their flights. That inspired me to take a closer look at Avantair, which is the only fractional ownership option for the Piaggio P.180 Avanti, one of the best looking business jets out there.
The aircraft is the most notable aspect of Avantair’s program, but not simply because it looks so cool. It’s unique design makes this aircraft a smart buy compared to other similarly sized aircraft for many reasons. To be clear, though, this isn’t a jet, it’s a propjet, with two propellers mounted on the wing facing backwards.
I’m not an aerospace engineer (shocker, I know), so I’ve tried to uncover why so much of Avantair’s marketing focused on the design of the plane, and if the aircraft was as amazing as they said. Two review sites that I found helpful were this overview of the P.180 from Airliners.net and this review of the P.180 from AVBuyer.com.
These experts seem to agree that the design does make this a great aircraft. The three wing design helps reduce turbulence and give it a smoother ride. And that’s just one part of it. Money quote from AVBuyer.com:
Furthermore, the combination of wing efficiency, engine efficiency and high speed still allowed Piaggio to claim fuel-efficiency numbers unmatched by anything with twin-turbine power.
That helps explain why Avantair is able to offer such a good deal. Acquisition cost for a 1/16th share size is $415,000, which is on the lower end of the spectrum that I’ve seen. The monthly management fee is $9,400 and the total operating cost for the year is $125,800 (managment fee plus fuel surcharge for 50 hours of flight). That yearly operating cost is where Avantair sets itself apart from other providers.
Avantair’s marketing materials claim that the P.180 is designed for safety and comfort. And one look inside the cabin reveals a beautifully appointed compartment. Lush leather seats and rich wooden tables and accents are just two of the stylish accoutrement.
The P.180 offers the tallest cabin height at 5 feet, 8 inches, which is up to a foot higher than other business jets. The cabin is also wrapped in an acoustic blanket, and that, along with the position of the engines relative to the cabin, make it a quiet trip. It’s also able to fly up to 41,000 feet, above any bad weather. It has baggage capacity for four sets of golf clubs, with room to spare for an overnight bag for your foursome, as well.
Avantair was also recently awarded a Gold Rating for safety from the Aviation Research Group/U.S. Always good to know a fractional jet provider takes safety seriously.
At first glance, it’s easy to understand how one might think that the P.180 was all style and no substance. But my eyes have been opened. This is one fractional jet provider that can get me to Parry Sound, and more cost effectively than anything else I’ve looked at to date. I’m going to be doing a bit more of a deep dive on PlaneSense in the near future, as their Pilatus P12-C looks like it might be a good option as well based on the savings in operating costs.
As you might expect, I’ll keep you posted.
