Britten-Norman private jet charter

Britten-Norman has never built a jet and has no plans to. What it builds is the Islander, a twin piston aircraft designed in 1963 to do one job well: carry nine people out of a field. Sixty years and roughly 1,300 airframes later it is still in production, still doing that job, and it is the aircraft that actually connects the Scottish islands.

Founded on 29 July 1954 by John Britten and Nigel Desmond Norman at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, the company remains the sole independent commercial aircraft manufacturer in the United Kingdom. Its aircraft have been sold into more than 120 countries and over 750 Islanders are still flying. In June 2026 the first Islander built entirely in Britain since 1968 passed 75 per cent completion on the Bembridge line.

An Islander is also the least expensive private flight you can book from a British airfield, at around £300 per flight hour. This page sets out what that buys and where it makes sense.

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Built in Britain again, for the first time since 1968

This is happening now rather than in a press release about the future, and it is worth setting out because it changes the outlook for parts, support and availability on a type that most of the market had written off.

Islander production drifted overseas over the decades, with major assemblies built in Romania and only final assembly completed in England. In September 2023 Britten-Norman announced it was bringing the whole build home to Bembridge, citing rising overseas costs. In March 2024 the company secured new investment from a group led by 4D Capital Partners and reorganised as Britten-Norman Aerospace.

Since then the workforce has grown by more than 40 per cent, new CNC machining equipment has gone in, and the line has started producing complete aircraft. On 8 June 2026 the company confirmed the first fully UK-built Islander had reached 75 per cent completion, with a second airframe at around 25 per cent and components for follow-on aircraft already in manufacture. The company last completed full aircraft manufacturing in Britain in 1968.

The first aircraft off the line is contracted to the Falkland Islands Government Air Service, which signed a letter of intent in November 2024 for four BN2B-26 Islanders worth 9.75 million dollars. Production targets are four aircraft a year by 2027 and eight a year by 2029, concentrating on the unleaded piston variant.

For a charter client the practical read is simple. A type with an active production line and a manufacturer investing in aftermarket parts is a different proposition from an orphaned aircraft, and the Islanders flying UK routes today have a supply chain behind them again.

The two-minute flight, and other things only an Islander does

Loganair operates the Islander between Westray and Papa Westray in Orkney. The distance is 1.7 miles. The scheduled time, including taxiing, is two minutes. It is the shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world, and it is flown by this aircraft because no other certified type can do it.

That route is the extreme case, but it illustrates the design brief. Britten and Norman studied the commuter market in the early 1960s and concluded that operators of short island routes cared about payload, field performance and cost per seat, not about range or speed. Everything about the Islander follows from that decision:

• Takeoff in around 370 metres and landing in around 300 metres. That is a third of what a light jet needs and it opens grass, gravel and beach-adjacent strips across the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and the Channel Islands;
• Fixed undercarriage and simple systems. Fewer things to go wrong at a remote airfield with no engineering support, which is the whole reason the type endures;
• Two engines over water. On island routes that matters more to most passengers than cabin comfort does;
• Nine seats in commuter layout, six in executive. Enough for a whole family, a shooting party or a survey crew with equipment;
• A door for every row. Passengers board directly to their seats rather than filing down an aisle, which is why turnarounds on island routes take minutes.

Beyond scheduled work, Islanders have flown Scottish air ambulance sorties for decades, and serve police, coastguard and survey roles across the UK. Our dedicated Britten-Norman Islander charter page covers the aircraft in detail.

What an Islander actually is

Precision matters here because the type is routinely and wrongly described as a jet. The BN-2 Islander is a twin piston-engined aircraft driving two propellers. It has never had a jet engine of any kind.

Design work began in 1963. The prototype, registered G-ATCT, first flew from Bembridge on 13 June 1965 with two Rolls-Royce Continental IO-360-B engines of 210 horsepower each, and appeared at the Paris Air Show four days later. UK and US certification followed in 1967. Production aircraft moved to Lycoming O-540 engines of 260 to 300 horsepower, which is what most of the current fleet runs.

Note the ceiling. The cabin is not pressurised, so the aircraft flies at low level, through weather rather than above it. On a 30-minute island hop that is a non-issue. On anything approaching two hours it is the reason to choose something else.

Islander, King Air or helicopter?

For a Scottish island or Channel Islands sector there are realistically three answers, and the right one depends on the strip at the far end.

Read it this way. If the destination has a paved runway of reasonable length and the sector is over an hour, take the King Air: four times the rate but twice the speed, a pressurised cabin and a lavatory. If there is no runway at all, or the landing site is a private estate or a hillside, it has to be the helicopter and the cost reflects that. If there is a short strip, grass or otherwise, and the sector is under an hour, the Islander does the job for a quarter of the King Air rate and an eighth of the helicopter.

The rest of the family

Defender. The military development of the Islander, first flown in May 1970, with underwing hardpoints for sensors, radar and stores, and a light troop transport role. A stretched Defender 4000 followed. These aircraft serve air arms, coastguards and police forces in Britain and abroad. They are military types and are not available for passenger charter. A correction worth making, since it appears on several aviation directories: the Rolls-Royce 250 fitted to the turbine variants is a turboprop, not a turbofan.

Trislander. A stretched Islander with a third engine mounted on the tail fin, first flown in September 1970 and in service from 1971. It carried up to 16 passengers, though most were fitted with 14 seats, and won the Queen's Award to Industry for technological innovation in 1975. Guernsey-based Aurigny flew Trislanders on Channel Islands routes for over 40 years and was by far the largest operator.

Two things are commonly got wrong about it. Production ended in 1982 after just 72 aircraft, not the hundreds sometimes claimed. And it was a hard-working commuter aeroplane on scheduled island services, not a VIP machine for safari expeditions; anyone who flew Aurigny out of Alderney will recognise the description. Very few remain airworthy and it is not realistically available for charter.

What it costs, and what you get for it

Indicative hourly rates in GBP for UK departures.

At £300 per flight hour the Islander is the cheapest private aircraft on our fleet list, and it undercuts the next option by a wide margin. Set expectations accordingly:

• It is loud. Two unsilenced piston engines a few feet from your ear. Headsets are usually provided and are not optional if you want to hold a conversation;
• There is no lavatory, no galley and no cabin crew. Sectors are short by design;
• You will feel the weather. Unpressurised at low level means turbulence is part of the experience on a rough day;
• It is slow. Around 130 knots. London to Edinburgh would take over four hours and is the wrong use of the aircraft entirely;
• What you get in return is access to airfields nothing else can use, at a price that makes a private flight for six to nine people cheaper per head than scheduled fares on many island routes.

Repositioning flights on empty legs reduce these rates further. For the wider fleet see the private jet price guide or browse the complete fleet. If the sector is longer than about an hour, a Beechcraft King Air gives you pressurisation and nearly double the speed from around £900 per hour.

Island and Highland sectors

This is where the aircraft earns its keep. Indicative one-way prices.

• Edinburgh to Barra - from approximately £400 for 8 passengers, around 1 hour 5 minutes;
• Edinburgh to Stornoway - from approximately £400, around 55 minutes;
• Edinburgh to Tiree - from approximately £350, around 45 minutes;
• Glasgow to Islay - from approximately £300, around 45 minutes;
• Southampton to Guernsey - from approximately £350, around 45 minutes;
• Manchester to Belfast - from approximately £400, around 50 minutes;
• Manchester to Dublin - from approximately £400, around 1 hour;
• Inverness to Orkney - from approximately £350, around 50 minutes.

Split across eight passengers, an Edinburgh to Stornoway charter works out at around £50 per head for a private aircraft that lands where you want it to. There is no other aircraft in private aviation that produces that arithmetic.

Frequently asked questions

Does Britten-Norman make a private jet?
No. The company has never built a jet aircraft. The Islander and Trislander are piston-engined propeller aircraft and the BN-2T variant uses Rolls-Royce 250 turboprops. Descriptions of Britten-Norman jets, Islander jets or Defender jets are incorrect regardless of where they appear.

What is the shortest scheduled flight in the world?
Westray to Papa Westray in Orkney, flown by Loganair using a Britten-Norman Islander. The distance is 1.7 miles and the scheduled time including taxiing is two minutes. No other certified aircraft type could operate the route, which is a useful illustration of what the Islander's field performance actually means.

How much does it cost to charter a Britten-Norman Islander?
From approximately £300 per flight hour, which makes it the least expensive private aircraft available from UK airfields. Glasgow to Islay costs from around £300 and Edinburgh to Stornoway from around £400 for eight passengers. Divided across a full cabin the per-head cost is frequently below scheduled fares on the same island routes.

Is Britten-Norman still in business?
Yes, and it is expanding. The company secured new investment from a group led by 4D Capital Partners in March 2024 and reorganised as Britten-Norman Aerospace. It has repatriated full Islander manufacturing to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, grown its workforce by more than 40 per cent and, as of June 2026, had the first fully UK-built Islander at 75 per cent completion with a second airframe on the line. Production targets are four aircraft a year by 2027 and eight by 2029.

Can I charter a Trislander?
Not realistically. Only 72 were built, production ended in 1982, and very few remain airworthy. The largest operator was Aurigny of Guernsey, which flew the type on Channel Islands routes for over 40 years. For groups of 14 to 16 a different aircraft type will be needed.

Is the Islander cabin pressurised?
No. It operates at low level, typically below 10,000 feet, which means flying through weather rather than above it. On the 30 to 60-minute sectors the aircraft is designed for this is rarely a problem. For anything longer, or in poor conditions, a pressurised turboprop such as a King Air is the better choice.

Where is Britten-Norman based?
Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, where the company was founded on 29 July 1954 and where the first Islander flew in June 1965. It is the sole independent commercial aircraft manufacturer in the United Kingdom, and the Bembridge line has been building complete aircraft again since the reshoring programme began.

Page last updated: July 2026. Britten-Norman builds no jet aircraft. Defender variants are military types and are not offered for passenger charter. Trislander availability is negligible. Charter availability is confirmed at the time of enquiry.

Britten-Norman aircraft available for charter: