Home / Guides / Turboprop vs Light Jet vs Midsize
A practical comparison of turboprops, light jets, and midsize jets on cost, speed, range, and cabin, and where each shows up as empty legs.
When you start browsing empty-leg flights, you'll quickly notice the same aircraft categories coming up again and again: turboprops, light jets, and midsize jets. Understanding the differences between them helps you pick the right leg for your trip and set realistic expectations about cost, speed, range, and comfort. This guide breaks down all three, explains where each fits best, and shows how they tend to appear in the empty-leg market.
A turboprop uses turbine engines that drive propellers rather than pure jet thrust. Common examples include the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 and the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air series. These aircraft are the workhorses of short-haul private flying.
Turboprops are the most fuel-efficient of the three categories and generally the least expensive to charter. They cruise more slowly than jets, typically in the 250 to 320 knot range, so they lose time on longer trips. But on shorter legs of a few hundred miles, the real-world time difference versus a jet is small once you account for taxi and climb.
Their real strength is access. Turboprops can operate from shorter runways and smaller regional airports that jets can't use, including high-altitude and unpaved fields. That makes them ideal for reaching mountain towns, islands, and rural destinations. Cabins are comfortable for a handful of passengers, usually six to eight, though they sit lower and can feel a bit smaller than a jet cabin. Turboprops also handle turbulence differently and are sometimes noisier than jets.
Light jets are what most people picture when they think of a small private jet. Typical examples include the Cessna Citation series, the Embraer Phenom 300, and the Learjet family. They strike a balance between the affordability of a turboprop and the speed and range of larger jets.
Light jets cruise faster than turboprops, often around 400 to 440 knots, and fly higher, above much of the weather. Range is usually enough for trips of roughly 1,000 to 1,500 nautical miles, covering most domestic city pairs with one stop at most. Cabins typically seat six to eight passengers, with enough room to work or relax on a two- or three-hour flight, though most light jets don't have a fully enclosed lavatory or stand-up cabin height.
Light jets are extremely common in the charter fleet, which means they show up frequently as empty legs. If you're flying a medium-distance domestic route and want jet speed without heavy-jet pricing, a light-jet empty leg is often the sweet spot.
Midsize jets step up in cabin size, range, and comfort. Examples include the Citation XLS and Latitude, the Hawker 800 series, and the Learjet 60. They're the natural choice when you're flying farther, carrying more people, or simply want a roomier cabin.
Midsize jets typically cruise around 430 to 460 knots and offer range in the neighborhood of 1,800 to 2,500 nautical miles, enough to cross the continental US with fewer or no stops. Cabins generally seat seven to nine passengers with stand-up or near-stand-up height, an enclosed lavatory, and space for real baggage. On flights of three hours or more, that extra room makes a noticeable difference.
The tradeoff is cost. Midsize jets are more expensive to charter than light jets or turboprops. That's exactly why the empty-leg market is so appealing for this category, an empty leg can bring a midsize experience down toward light-jet money.
Here's how the three categories generally compare, keeping in mind that specific aircraft vary.
Across all three, empty legs run at the usual 30 to 75 percent below standard charter, so the category that's out of budget at full price may be very reachable as a repositioning flight.
Empty legs mirror where each aircraft type does its everyday work. Turboprops appear on shorter regional routes and legs serving smaller or mountain airports. Light jets are the most abundant empty legs overall because they're so common in the fleet and fly the medium-haul domestic routes where one-way charter demand is highest. Midsize empty legs show up on longer domestic corridors between major metros, and they're often the best value of the three relative to full charter price because the base cost is higher.
The practical takeaway is to stay open on aircraft type. If you fixate on one category, you'll miss good legs. Match the aircraft to your trip length and passenger count, then let availability guide the rest.
Because empty legs are posted on someone else's schedule and get claimed fast, the winning move is to be alerted rather than to search repeatedly. Set up free alerts on the /alert page with your route and, if you like, your preferred aircraft size, and you'll be notified when a matching leg appears.
FlyPrivateBack is a free alert service. When you find a leg that fits, the booking is fulfilled by our affiliate partner Villiers Jets. And remember that empty legs carry cancellation risk, roughly 10 to 15 percent are pulled by the operator if the underlying trip changes, so keep a backup plan for essential travel and treat a great leg as an opportunity to seize quickly.
Yes, turboprops cruise around 250 to 320 knots versus roughly 400 to 460 knots for light and midsize jets. On short trips the real-world time difference is small, but on longer routes jets pull clearly ahead.
Turboprops are efficient, relatively affordable, and can use shorter runways and smaller regional or high-altitude airports that jets can't reach. That access makes them ideal for mountain towns and remote destinations.
Light jets are smaller, more affordable, and suited to medium-haul trips of about 1,000 to 1,500 nautical miles. Midsize jets add range, a taller cabin, an enclosed lavatory, and more baggage space for longer flights.
Light jets are the most abundant empty legs because they're so common in the charter fleet and fly the high-demand medium-haul domestic routes. Turboprops and midsize jets appear regularly too, on shorter and longer routes respectively.
Midsize jets often deliver the biggest relative discount because their full charter price is highest, so an empty leg can bring a roomy cabin toward light-jet pricing. All categories still run at 30 to 75 percent off standard charter.
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