Private jet charter in Madeira

For a client based in Britain, Madeira is the Atlantic island where a mountain walk, a vineyard lunch and a beach fit into one long weekend, and a light jet reaches it in about three and a half hours. Private Jets UK plans the island trip from the first call to the car at the door: the aircraft, the coast you will sleep on, the season, and what you want to do on the days in between. Our customers can choose from 6,500 jets of every type and configuration. We help you pick the best fit for your needs and objectives. The catalogue carries models from the largest manufacturers: Gulfstream, Dassault, Embraer, Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Learjet, Cessna, Beechcraft, Pilatus, HondaJet and others. Our partnerships with the world's largest airlines and VIP terminals give you favourable flight conditions and a high level of service. Our experts handle the organisation of the flight, from the paperwork and agreements to the transfer and the meeting at the airport, and the company provides the full range of business aviation and concierge services. Madeira is a mountain island 57 km long with a small, low sister island beside it, and what you do there depends on the side you choose. This page covers the island as a whole. The airport at Funchal, with its approach, wind limits, handlers and slots, and the city itself, are described on a separate Funchal page.

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 Madeira 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.

How long does it take to fly to Madeira?

Madeira lies about 805 km south-west of mainland Portugal and, from the British airfields we use, 1,319 to 1,564 nautical miles away. A Phenom 300E covers the sector from Farnborough in 3 h 35 min, there is no clock change on arrival, and the island keeps British time all year. Two airports take a business jet: Funchal on the main island and Porto Santo on the sister island, so the table gives both. The sector to Porto Santo is a few minutes shorter.

Can a light jet fly it nonstop? On paper, yes. The sector is 1,371 to 1,410 nautical miles from the London fields, and manufacturers publish range for four passengers, full fuel and instrument reserves with a 200 nautical mile alternate, in still air. The Atlantic is not still air, and a full cabin pulls every figure down. Published ranges for the light jets we would put on this run:

The first three clear the London sector with four people aboard, with less to spare than the headline figure suggests. The last two do not, whatever the brochure says about their range at a different payload. That is why we ask for the passenger and bag count in the first message and check the fuel plan with the operator before a price goes out, and why we do not quote the smallest jets on this route.

Prices for the private jet flights to Madeira

Typical trips from Britain to the island, cheapest first. The festival and flower weeks described in the calendar blocks further down can price above these figures.

Flight hours are most of the bill on a sector of this length, so the class of aircraft moves the price more than the choice of island. The same trip from Farnborough to Funchal, one way:

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 Madeira

Nobody flies to Madeira to pass through it, and the onward flights are mostly short ones: the hop to the sister island, the mainland, and the Algarve. Typical one-way prices for the aircraft that suit each sector:

Porto Santo: the sister island by air or by sea

Porto Santo is a low, dry island of about 42 square kilometres with a beach 9 km long, and it could hardly be more different from the mountainous main island 33 nautical miles away. The climate is semi-arid, July and August are the driest months and November and December the wettest. Christopher Columbus lived there for a while after marrying Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, the daughter of Bartolomeu Perestrelo, and the house is now a museum. Pico do Castelo rises to 437 m, and the golf resort, designed by Seve Ballesteros, has an 18-hole and a nine-hole course. The Columbus Festival in September lasts about four days.

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 Madeira:

This is a small part of what is available. Madeira sits inside the western European fleet, so outside the festival weeks there is usually a suitable aircraft and crew within a few hours of the island, and around the New Year the same operators may have a jet looking for a way home after a drop-off.

How to book a private jet?

You can book a private jet flight to Madeira 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 Madeira

The archipelago has two airports that take a business jet. One serves the main island, the other the sister island, and the choice between them is a choice of holiday.

Four decisions shape an island trip:

The island in outline

The main island has an area of 741 square kilometres, is 57 km long and about 22 km across at the widest, and a mountain ridge runs along its spine. The highest point, Pico Ruivo, stands at 1,862 m, and the eastern end sinks below 200 m. Sea cliffs, valleys and ravines run down from the ridge, and the laurel forests on the northern slopes are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Two more groups belong to the archipelago: the uninhabited Desertas nearby and the Savage Islands about 280 km to the south-south-east. Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal, a part of the EU and inside the Schengen area, with a population of about a quarter of a million, close to half of it in the capital.

The shape of the land does the planning for you. The south coast is sunnier and drier and carries most of the towns and hotels. The north is wet and green, steep and quiet. The middle is cloud, rock and cold air, and the east is low and windy. A drive of an hour or so moves you from one to another, so the useful question is not what to see but which two of the four to combine.

Where to stay: Madeira by area

Road times from the airport are the working measure, and they are shorter than the island's size suggests because the main roads are fast expressways with a good many tunnels. The figures below come from transfer firms and apply to a car without stops.

We book by the evening you want, not by the star rating. A party that wants to watch the New Year fireworks sleeps in Funchal. A party that wants to be on a levada by eight in the morning sleeps in Santana. A party with golf bags and a beach on the agenda looks at Porto Santo. Tell us the activity first and the hotel second.

Levadas and the mountains: walking on Madeira

The levadas are irrigation channels cut from the sixteenth century to carry water from the wet north-west to the dry south-east. More than 2,170 km of them were built, and the paths beside them are the island's best-known walks. Most are narrow, some run through tunnels and some along a drop, and the official brochure grades nearly all of them as moderate.

Madeira wine, vineyards and the harvest

Madeira wine is a fortified wine with protected designation of origin status in the EU, and heat is part of how it is made. English merchants settled in Funchal in the seventeenth century and came to control the trade, and the American colonies reportedly bought most of the island's output. Madeira was used to toast the Declaration of Independence. Four noble white grapes give the style names: Sercial is the driest, then Verdelho and Bual, and Malvasia, called Malmsey, the sweetest. Tinta Negra, the dominant red grape, accounts for about 85 per cent of production.

Two methods of ageing separate the cheap bottle from the expensive one. Younger wines go through estufagem, in heated tanks at around 46 degrees Celsius for at least 90 days. The older and more costly wines go through canteiro, where the only warmth is that of the lodge itself. A vintage Madeira, called frasqueira, must spend at least 19 years in the cask and one in the bottle, which means it cannot be sold before it is 20. The vines grow on man-made terraces called poios, often trained on low trellises, and Porto Santo supplies grapes too.

For a private party the wine day is a tasting at a producer in Funchal and a lunch in the vineyards, usually arranged with the hotel. It is best planned for the Wine Festival, which runs for about three weeks from late August into September, with a live harvest at Estreito de Câmara de Lobos on a single day, concerts in the vineyards and the European Folklore Week at the end of August.

Seasons: when Madeira suits you

Funchal's observatory gives the best picture of the south coast. The island has a mild subtropical climate moderated by the Gulf Stream, with dry summers and wet winters, and the mountains and the north behave differently from the coast. Porto Santo is drier still.

The festivals of the island

The island-wide festivals below decide which week to choose, because they fill the hotels from one end of the island to the other.

Helicopter tours and transfers on the island

On Madeira a helicopter is a way to cross a mountain. The island has few flat places and a road that goes through a great many tunnels, and the north shore and the west are where rotary flight changes the day. Tourist helicopter operations have come and gone, and the heliport in the middle of Funchal that once served sightseeing flights was destroyed in a storm, so we check what is actually available for your dates and say so before a quote is written. A listing in aviation databases shows a helipad at Porto Moniz, and other sites depend on the landowner and the operator.

The machines suited to this ground are the Airbus H125 for short coastal and mountain work, the wider H130 for villa transfers, and the H135 and the Bell 429 where a twin is wanted. We book them alongside the jet so that both crews work to one timetable.

How an island trip is planned, in order

Most Madeira bookings go through the same six decisions, and the order matters because each one narrows the next.

Alternatives: Porto Santo and Lisbon

Madeira is not always the right answer for a short break, and two other places are worth a comparison. Porto Santo suits a party that wants sand and sun without a mountain. It has a 9 km beach and a golf course, and a London jet can land there directly for a little less than at Funchal. The price is a small island with much less to do beyond the beach, the golf and the walk to Pico Branco. A week split between the two islands, with the PC-12 hop in the middle, is the usual compromise.

Lisbon is a different kind of alternative. It lies 542 nautical miles from Funchal, and the busiest scheduled route out of Funchal runs there. A client who wants a day or two in the city can fly a London jet to Lisbon, spend the time there, and continue to the island on a second sector, from £8,050 in a Citation CJ3+. We price the split itinerary beside the direct one so that you see the difference.

A dog on a two-week stay

A stay of two weeks puts the dog's paperwork on a longer clock than a weekend does. The certificate is dated for the entry to the EU, the tapeworm treatment for the return to Britain falls on the island, and the hotel or the quinta has to accept the animal.

Requirements for cats, ferrets, birds and anything less usual are collected on our flying with pets guide. Back in Britain, we confirm the entry point and the paperwork for the animal in writing before the flight.

Ways to bring the Madeira price down

• Move off the Flower Festival Sunday and the wine weeks where you can. The shoulder weeks cost less in aircraft and hotels alike;
• Match the jet to the payload honestly. A Phenom 300E for four with bags is the cheapest nonstop answer, and a midsize costs more but gives back payload and fuel margin;
• Consider Porto Santo directly. From Farnborough it is £350 below Funchal, and it saves the transfer between the islands if the beach is the point;
• Ask where the approved crew is based. An aircraft already in Portugal or Spain needs less positioning than one from Britain, and on a sector of this length positioning is a meaningful share of the bill.

Types of flights

Madeira trips are built around an activity, because the island rewards anyone who wants to be outdoors and the journey is too long for a purely idle stay.

• Winter and spring family holidays of a week or two, with the gardens, a quinta and a villa on the south coast;
• Walking holidays based in Santana or Calheta, with the levadas and the high peaks as the programme;
• Golf weeks, with the courses of the main island and the Seve Ballesteros course on Porto Santo;
• Wine trips timed for the harvest and the Wine Festival, with producers in the city and vineyards on the slopes;
• Whale and dolphin watching, where common and bottlenose dolphins and short-finned pilot whales are among the species seen;
• Beach weekends on Porto Santo, arranged as a hop from Funchal or a direct flight.

Empty Legs

Empty legs are the cheapest way onto a long sector. On the Madeira routes they follow the festival weeks, the change-over days and the harvest, and it helps to know what produces them.

Flexibility pays more here than on any short-haul route. A window of a few days beats one fixed evening, the operator keeps control of the date and the hour, and a leg can disappear when the booking behind it changes. Whatever is free is posted on our empty legs page, and we pass on a Madeira match as soon as it is released.

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 to and from Madeira 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 Madeira

Biggin Hill, London City, Farnborough and Luton are the usual departure points for this corridor, with Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham behind them and Scotland at the long end; the price table higher up covers eight of the 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

Madeira charters from the booking notes: six typical trips

What the island 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 Madeira