Private jet charter in Funchal

A private jet from London reaches Funchal in about three and a half hours, and almost everything that can make or spoil the trip is decided in the last few kilometres, at an airfield whose runway stands partly out over the sea. Private Jets UK plans each Funchal charter around that airport: its approach and wind limits, the ban on night movements, the stand, the handler and the commander's six-month landing record at the island. Our customers have access to 6,500 jets of all types and configurations available for rent. We will help you choose the best option based on your needs and objectives. Our catalog contains the models from the largest manufacturers: Gulfstream, Dassault, Embraer, Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Learjet, Cessna, Beechcraft, Pilatus, HondaJet, etc. We have established partnerships with the world's largest airlines and VIP terminals, which means we can offer you favourable flight conditions and a high level of service. Our experts will manage the organization of your flight - starting with paperwork, agreements, etc., and ending with a transfer and meeting at the airport. Our company provides a full range of business aviation and concierge services. The city itself is a harbour town of about 106,000 people with a hotel zone, a cable car and a fireworks night, some 20 km by road from the terminal. This page is about Funchal and its airport. The rest of the island, from the north coast to the sister island of Porto Santo, has a page of its own on this site.

At your request, the aviation consultants of Private Jets UK will help you choose the jet with the suitable technical parameters (production year, flight hours, and home base). The cost of the private jet charter in Funchal depends on many factors, such as the model of the business jet, the number of passengers, departure and destination airports, type of flight, duration of parking, additional services, etc. Therefore, we calculate the price of each order individually taking into account your wishes. You can use an online calculator to get an instant charter quote. Please indicate your real contact details to get the final calculation.

You can calculate the cost of your flight in several ways:

• using an online calculator on the website (however, it shows only the approximate price);
• via Messenger (WhatsApp or Telegram);
• by landline or cell phone;
• via e-mail (jets@private-jets.co.uk).

Please note that the above-mentioned price is indicative only. It is calculated on this basis: a departure from Farnborough, an Embraer Phenom 300E and two passengers aboard. If you want to get a personal quote, just fill out the online booking form below. Our aviation consultant will make the calculation within 20 minutes, and then contact you to specify the details of the flight.

Flight time from London to Funchal airport

A Phenom 300E needs 3 h 35 min from Farnborough to the runway at Santa Cruz, and the watch stays where it was, because Madeira keeps British time: GMT in winter, BST in summer. The sectors from the fields we use run from 1,319 to 1,564 nautical miles. That is the outer edge of what a light jet flies without a stop, and from Scotland or the north-east of England the job passes to a larger aircraft. The table gives the sector from each field.

Prices for the private jet flights to Funchal

One-way prices into the airport at Santa Cruz, cheapest first. The festival weeks in the calendar block further down can price above these figures.

Each figure is built from flight hours, and the written quote adds landing, handling and any night-stop at the island. The step up from London to Scotland is a change of aircraft, not of distance: eight passengers need a Challenger 350, which is why the northern rows jump. A stay of several days brings in the one cost the table cannot show, the stand. A quote should say whether the aircraft waits at Funchal on a slot and a parking request, or flies away and comes back, and we price both when the stay is longer than a long weekend.

We can arrange the flights from any cities in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and European countries. Due to a large database of available business jets, we can help you find an optimal jet and crew. If you have any questions about the departure or the flight itself, you can ask them using the form below:

Private jet flights from Funchal

Guests who land at Funchal mostly stay put, so the departures we price from the airport are connections: to Lisbon and Porto on the mainland, south to the Canaries and out to the Azores. Typical one-way prices:

Prices depending on the type of business jet

We can clearly show the high dependence of the cost of the flight, on the type of aircraft - we have collected approximate data, at the price of 1 flight hour, for various types of business jets:

The cost per hour indicated in the table is preliminary and does not constitute an offer or a commercial offer. Exact prices are available from the managers of the company.

Online Calculator

If you want to make an urgent calculation of the cost of a private plane flight, use our online calculator. Just fill in all the fields of the form with a note that you are interested in a specific model of the aircraft and get the final price. NB! - the figures are sent to you by email or messenger, please carefully fill in the contact details to get the calculation.

All our calculations are as transparent as possible for you. After receiving the request, we will prepare a beautiful offer - where the costs and the final price will be clearly described. The exact price is agreed in advance and is written in the contract, so you can be sure of the final cost.

Private jets are ready to take off

Our database contains over 6,500 business jets (about 3,500 in Europe and 3,000 in the rest of the world) of different configurations and production years. The list of models is constantly updated. Unfortunately, we can't post a full list of available jets on our website due to confidentiality issues. Please contact the managers of the company for more accurate information. We will help you choose a suitable model taking into account your wishes. These are the typical choices for Funchal:

This is a small part of what is available. A jet for Funchal often starts its day at Lisbon, Porto or a London field, and the price carries the positioning. For an island at the end of a long sector that is normal, and it is one more reason to ask early.

How to book a private jet?

You can book a private jet flight to Funchal in 6 easy steps:

1. Flight request - indicating the route and your preferences for the model of business jet and other points.
2. Coordination of flight details - our consultant will contact you to offer the possible flight options and answer all your questions.
3. Commercial offer - we will send you a final offer on a specific model taking into account all your wishes.
4. Signing of the contract.
5. Payment for the flight and booking a business jet.
6. Departure at the agreed time and date. Assistance during the whole flight.

In addition to renting the private jets and arranging the flights, we provide concierge services, premium transfer, security, exclusive catering, etc. We have learned to solve problems of any complexity, offering the service of the European level. Our experts will be happy to answer your questions and help you arrange your flight.

Business aviation airports in Funchal

One airport carries every trip to the city, and two others matter on the day it cannot take the aircraft. The deeper detail follows in the sections below the table.

Four points to settle before a Funchal landing:

Runway 05/23: the approach and the wind limits

The airport opened with a runway of 1,600 m, which was lengthened in stages. The last stage could not be built on land, so the runway stands partly on a platform over the ocean, carried by 180 columns each about 70 m tall, a structure that won an international structural engineering award. The terrain does the rest. Runway 05 ends against hills and cliffs, and runway 23 is a tabletop with a steep drop at its end. No instrument landing system is listed for either. The published approaches are satellite-based (RNAV and RNP AR) and VOR/DME procedures, all of them ending in a visual approach and in some cases a circling turn of roughly 150 to 180 degrees onto a short final. The AIP requires visual reference to the runway for every landing, with minimum visibility of 5,000 m for runway 05 and 7,000 m for runway 23.

The wind is the other half. The AIP warns of wind variation, turbulence, low-level wind shear and microbursts on the plateau, and sets landing limits as two-minute means. An OPSGROUP summary of those limits lists a mean of 15 knots with gusts to 25 for winds from west-north-west round to north, 20 with gusts to 30 for winds from 020 to 040 degrees, and up to 25 knots including gusts for winds from the south-south-west and south-west, with different values by runway for winds between 120 and 190 degrees. When the wind is beyond the limit the tower issues no landing clearance. It gives the mean wind at Rosário and at the touchdown zone together with landing or go-around instructions, and the go-around instructions come early on the approach. It never cancels a clearance once issued, and a pilot who lands without one carries that responsibility. The operator's own manual applies if it is stricter, which is common.

Who may fly it: crew approval and the Portuguese permit

Funchal is an airport where the national AIP lays down experience for the commander. Formally the conditions are mandatory for revenue flights on aircraft with more than ten passenger seats, so a light or midsize jet sits below that line on paper. We still ask every operator which of the conditions its crew meets before a price goes out, because the airport does not forgive an unprepared commander and the wind does not wait for an explanation.

The second layer is the landing permission. ExecuJet states that commercial non-EU flights, scheduled or not, need prior permission from the Portuguese civil aviation authority, requested three working days ahead. An operator from outside the EU, a British one among them, falls under that, so the request starts with the quote and not with the departure date.

Handlers, customs and the stand

The AIP expects an authorised full-handling agent for every commercial operator and for private crews, who should contact an agent before they operate. At Funchal we plan with ExecuJet, which lists the FBO as available round the clock on request, customs as available at any hour, weather and NOTAM service, catering, cleaning, crew hotels, a rental car and ground transfers. Before arrival the operator completes the System of Means of Transport and Summary Declarations on the Portuguese customs platform and passes passenger name data to the national database, and ExecuJet can do both on the operator's behalf. We send the passenger and crew names early, with clear copies of the identity documents.

The stand is the scarcest item. The airport is slot coordinated, and the AIP requires parking requests to follow the scheduling procedure. It also caps the number of movements allowed under the night regime, 31 a day and 80 a week as a rule and higher figures in the Christmas, New Year, Carnival, Easter and Flower Festival periods. That is why a booking for a festival week made at the last minute is a different job from the same booking made in good time.

Border, passport and the Portuguese forms

Britain is outside Schengen and Portugal is inside it, so the border is at the airport. British passport holders need no visa for up to 90 days in any 180, with a passport issued less than ten years before arrival and valid for at least three months after the planned departure from the Schengen area. A first-time visitor may be asked to register a photograph and fingerprints at the entry-exit system, which is free. The handler and we check the customs declaration and the passenger list before the aircraft leaves Britain.

From the airport to the centre of Funchal

The terminal is 13.2 km from the cathedral in a straight line and around 20 km by road, which transfer companies put at 20 to 25 minutes. Most guests are met at the handler's building by a car arranged in advance. The options for anyone arriving without one:

Where to stay in Funchal

The city has three centres of gravity. The old town and the harbour lie at the bottom, the Lido holds the hotel zone along the coast, and Monte sits on the hill above, once a summer refuge for the wealthy because of its mild air. The five-star hotels that ExecuJet lists for crews sit 19 to 23 km from the airport: Belmond Reid's Palace, The Cliff Bay, The Vine Hotel and Quinta da Casa Branca at about 23 km, Casa Velha do Palheiro at 19 km. Reid's is the old lady of the group. William Reid, the son of a Scottish crofter, opened it in the nineteenth century on the west side of Funchal Bay, with 128 rooms and 35 suites and more than 40,000 square metres of subtropical garden, and its guest list runs from Winston Churchill to George Bernard Shaw. Tell us the hotel before the quote is written so that the car and the arrival hour agree with the check-in.

One thing about the harbour is useful to know. The Port of Funchal is the leading Portuguese port for cruise liners, and on a day when several ships are alongside the old town is at its busiest at midday. A transfer in a pre-booked car is not affected, but a lunch table can be, so we book it.

The city between the airport and the harbour

Funchal has about 106,000 inhabitants and an urban area of about 150,000, on the south coast of an island 57 km long. It is the warmest city in Portugal, with an annual mean temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius. The market hall of Mercado dos Lavradores is Art Deco, on three floors, with tile panels on the walls. The Fort of São Tiago holds a museum, the wine museum tells the story of the island's fortified wine, and the Museu CR7 devotes itself to the footballer the airport is named after. A cable car climbs from the old town to Monte, where toboggan drivers take visitors back down to the centre, and a second cable car goes on to the Botanical Garden.

Flying to Funchal with a dog or a cat

Madeira is an EU region, so the paperwork is the EU's, and it is the date on the certificate that goes wrong, not the flight. The animal sits in the cabin with you and on a sector of about three and a half hours most simply sleep.

What Portugal asks for when a pet arrives from Britain:

• An ISO microchip, fitted before the rabies vaccination or at the same time;
• A rabies vaccination given when the animal was at least 12 weeks old, with 21 days elapsed after the vaccination before it travels;
• An Animal Health Certificate for each trip, issued by an Official Veterinarian and valid for ten days for entry to the EU. The same certificate is used for the return to Britain as stated on it. A British pet passport cannot be used to enter the EU;
• No more than five animals per traveller, entering through a travellers' point of entry. For animals arriving from outside the EU the entry point is normally given notice ahead of arrival, typically 48 hours, and we file it;
• For dogs, a tapeworm treatment from a vet between 24 and 120 hours before arrival back in Britain, recorded on the paperwork. Cats are exempt.

Requirements for cats, ferrets, birds and anything less usual are collected on our flying with pets guide. For the entry point and the paperwork on the way home, we confirm both in writing before the flight, and our managers check the position for your dates before a booking is taken.

Funchal after dark: the city calendar

The dates that matter for a charter to the city are the nights when it fills: lights, fireworks, a carnival and a rally through the streets. Pick the week before you pick the aircraft.

Ways to bring the Funchal price down

• Land in daylight and in the handler's hours. A late arrival that tips into the midnight ban costs a night elsewhere;
• Fly from the west. On the same Phenom 300E, the sector from Cardiff is priced about £900 below the one from Biggin Hill, and Southampton and Bristol sit between them;
• Decide early whether the aircraft stays. A jet that waits on the island occupies a scarce stand, one that flies home and returns costs two long sectors, and the cheaper answer depends on the length of the stay, so we price both.

Types of flights

Funchal's traffic comes through a single strip on an island in the open Atlantic, and nearly everyone who lands there has come to stay.

• City breaks and New Year weeks, with a five-star hotel along the coast and often a dog on board;
• Cruise guests who fly in to join a ship in the harbour, or fly home from one;
• Technical and fuel stops, which ExecuJet lists among its services, for aircraft crossing between Europe, the Canaries and the Atlantic;
• Medical and emergency flights, which the AIP excepts from the backtrack rule and from the night ban in urgent cases, and for which ExecuJet lists air ambulance assistance;
• Onward itineraries to Lisbon, the Canaries or the Azores that start from the airport rather than end there.

A same-day return is possible on paper and rarely sensible. It means about seven hours in the air in one day, with the aircraft and crew waiting at the island on a scarce stand. Almost every guest stays at least a night, and the stand request is built around that stay.

Empty Legs

A leg flown without passengers is sold cheaply, and Funchal makes more of them than most places, because the stand is scarce: an aircraft that has delivered a party often cannot wait on the apron and has to leave empty, or arrive empty to collect one.

On a corridor this thin the date is the lever. Give us a window of a few days and the chance of a match is far better than for one fixed evening. The operator keeps the date and the hour, and a leg can vanish if the booking behind it moves. Free legs are listed on our empty legs page, and we flag a Funchal match as soon as an operator releases it.

Flight payment options

The main goal of our company is to provide the highest level of comfort to our customers. Therefore, we're always ready to meet you halfway. Our consultants will offer you a wide variety of flights to meet your needs and budget. Most customers prefer a non-cash method (a transfer to an EU bank account), which guarantees a high level of confidentiality and security of payment. All payment details are provided in advance, so you'll have enough time to make the necessary checks. For years of working in business aviation, our company has gained an impeccable reputation. We practice transparency and are always ready to present all necessary documents.

Private Jets UK works with both physical and legal entities. We guarantee the confidentiality and security of payments. You can pay for the flights from Funchal in any convenient way:

• cashless (by transfer to our account);
• by cash;
• by card;
• by cryptocurrency.

Our company works with European and British banks, which allows you to choose the most convenient payment method. In addition, we conclude formal agreements and provide our clients with all necessary documents and invoices, which guarantees the safe payment and delivery of services. If you have any financial questions, feel free to contact our private aviation consultants.

If you need to book an urgent flight, please keep in mind that the bank transfer can take a few days. In such situations, we may need to involve our partner companies so that you can pay for your flight in cash. If you have any questions, you can contact your personal consultant 24/7.

Flights from the UK to Funchal

Biggin Hill, Farnborough, London City and Luton send most of the traffic on this corridor, with Southampton, Bristol and Cardiff the shortest of the sectors and Scotland the longest; the price table higher up covers thirteen of those pairings. Our clients have access to all airports of the UK and Europe. Due to the unique partnership conditions, we can offer our clients the best prices for business aviation services. Our experts will consult you on the availability of private jets in a particular city and help you choose the best option.

List of TOP 25 business aviation airports:

 

Airport	Country	ICAO	IATA
London Heathrow Airport	England	EGLL	LHR
Birmingham Airport	England	EGBB	BHX
London Gatwick	England	EGKK	LGW
London City Airport	England	EGLC	LCY
London Luton	England	EGGW	LTN
Edinburgh Airport	Scotland	EGPH	EDI
Leeds Airport	England	EGNM	LBA
Manchester Airport	England	EGCC	MAN
London Stansted	England	EGSS	STN
Liverpool John Lennon Airport	England	EGGP	LPL
Newcastle Airport	England	EGNT	NCL
Bristol Airport	England	EGGD	BRS
Glasgow Airport	Scotland	EGPF	GLA
East Midlands Airport	England	EGNX	EMA
Southampton Airport	England	EGHI	SOU
Jersey Airport	Channel Islands	EGJJ	JER
Cardiff International Airport	Wales	EGFF	CWL
Inverness Airport	Scotland	EGPE	INV
Bournemouth Airport	England	EGHH	BOH
London Farnborough Airport	England	EGLF	FAB
Oxford Airport	England	EGTK	OXF
London Biggin Hill	England	EGKB	BQH
Belfast Airport	Northern Ireland	EGAA	BFS
Gibraltar Airport	Gibraltar	LXGB	GIB
Aberdeen Airport	Scotland	EGPD	ABZ

Funchal charters from the booking notes: six typical trips

What the airport looks like once a quote turns into a flight. Six typical jobs of the kind that come through our booking notes, described in outline, with the particulars changed.

Frequently asked questions about flying to Funchal