Light jets: If you are a villain in a James Bond film or a business traveler trying to keep costs low for relatively short flights, this category is perfect for you. Modern-day business aircraft like the upcoming Dassault Falcon 10X and the Gulfstream 800 are luxurious, long-range types comparable in size to a regional jet airliner. Whereas the Gulfstream 800 and the Falcon 10X are ultra-efficient for the industry, with the latest and greatest modern technology, their impressive size is one of the most considerable differences from the jets that made general aviation popular among celebrities and business travelers.

While large private aircraft can offer accommodations like beds, galleries, and the ability to stand up and walk around inside the cabin, with light jets, up to eight passengers can expect to crouch while moving throughout the cabin. These jets were more common in the early days of business aviation.

Early jet aircraft were much smaller, less efficient, and had less range – but they were fast. Very fast. While range can sometimes change depending on the number of passengers onboard, today, light private jets still stand out for their speed, with every type on our list having a max speed greater than 450 knots.

5 Hawker 400/Nextant Aerospace 400XT

Max Cruising Speed: 471 knots

• First Flight: 1978
• Range: 2,160 nautical miles
• Occupancy: 7

Manufactured by Beechcraft in the late 70s, the Original Hawker 400 was a result of Beechcraft and Raytheon collaborating on a redesign of another jet, the Mitsubishi Diamond 300. The redesigns made to the aircraft made it faster, and the Hawker 400 was able to reach a max cruising speed of 458 knots.

Photo: Nextant Aerospace 

Nextant Aerospace, an aerospace manufacturing company in 2007, set out to redesign private jets that had already been flying. The Hawker 400 was their first project, and its rework included upgraded avionics and controls. The Nextant 400XT would also receive an engine update. These newer engines allow the jet to be faster than the original Hawker 400 model while simultaneously increasing the range.

4 Bombardier Learjet 24

Max Cruising Speed: 475 knots

• First Flight: 1966
• Range: 1,473 nautical miles
• Occupancy: 4

Perhaps the most iconic and well-known, the Learjet 24 was the first variation of the Learjet 23, the first aircraft produced by the company. The Learjet was a product of “Bill” Lear, who was inspired to design a business jet based around a Swiss ground-attack fighter jet. After the success of the Learjet 23, the company made several updates to its design to make it one of the fastest private jets ever to fly.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The new jet would have larger and more powerful engines, increased maximum takeoff weight, and the addition of an extra window in the cabin. The mighty fighter jet-like design made the aircraft noisy to operate, and the Learjet 24 was one of a handful of civilian aircraft designs that the Federal Aviation Administration prohibited operations of due to noise. There are still examples of the type able to circumnavigate these noise regulations with updated engines and modifications designed to make the aircraft quieter. Learjet was purchased by Bombardier in 2021.

3 SyberJet SJ30

Max Cruising Speed: 476 knots

• First Flight: 1991
• Range: 2,500 nautical miles
• Occupancy: 4

Perhaps one of the newest aircraft on the list, the SyberJet SJ30, is largely unheard of for a good reason: only around eight examples have been produced. The aircraft design was purchased from two amateur aircraft builders who had designed the jet in the 90s. After SyberJet was designed, the aircraft type received numerous investors to start small-scale production.

Photo: CyberJet Aircraft 

The SyberJet’s design is unique and has a lot of characteristics to brag about. The aircraft is certified for single-pilot operations and can maintain sea-level cabin pressure at altitudes up to 41,000 feet, with a maximum flight ceiling of 49,000 ft. The aircraft is fast, having a top speed of .83. It also has fuel-efficient features and leading-edge wing slats that allow it to handle smoothly at slow speeds, which prevents the fast jet from suffering from the disadvantages other fast aircraft have in their design that make landings more difficult.

2 North American Sabreliner

Max Cruising Speed: 480 knots

• First Flight: 1958
• Range: 2,170 nautical miles
• Occupancy: 7

In the early 1950s, North American Aviation, which had established itself as a leader in aircraft design with now iconic aircraft such as the T-6 trainer, P-51 Mustang, and most recently, the F-86 Sabre, wanted to use the technology of the jet age to revolutionize the executive travel and training for the US Air Force. Using the same tail and wing as their revolutionary fighter aircraft, the Sabreliner had its first flight in 1958.

Photo: Kevin Porter | Shutterstock.com

Under military use, the aircraft was known as the T-39 but was named the Sabreliner for business transport. The Sabreliner 40 was the smallest and near the fastest. Later, North American Aviation would produce multiple variants of the aircraft with upgraded engines and larger cabins. The type was popular, and more than 800 examples, including all variants, were built. In 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, had purchased an ex-military T-39 in 1994 that was converted to a Sabreliner and sold by a jet broker in California. That aircraft was used on multiple flights by the terrorist organization.

1 Falcon 10 – Mystère

Max Cruising Speed: 490 knots

• First Flight: 1970
• Range: 1919 nautical miles
• Occupancy: 7

Eager to restart its aviation business after the Second World War, the government of France tasked companies like Dassault to start work on aircraft that could be used as trainer aircraft and liaison transports. They developed the Falcon 20, which would become the first business jet produced by the company. It was wildly successful among foreign customers, and soon, the French airplane maker wanted to capitalize on the success by developing two variants of the Falcon 20.

Photo: Dassault Aviation 

The Falcon 10, which carried the French name Mystère, could be considered a scaled-down version of the 20. However, it had a different fuselage, wings, and avionics than the Falcon 20. Two Garrett TFE731 engines powered the new type, and the Falcon 10 was noticeably fast. The aircraft was one of the first to be powered by the engine type, which was later adopted by the Learjet, the Cessna Citation III, and the Hawker 800, among other aircraft types.