Piper M500

The Piper M500 belongs to the PA-46 family and was earlier sold as the Malibu Meridian. It has one Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A of 500 shp, a pressurised cabin and a Garmin G1000 NXi cockpit. In Piper's range it sits between the piston M350 and the faster M700 Fury.

Four leather seats behind the pilot

The M500 cabin is 3.73 m long, 1.25 m wide and 1.18 m high. You board through a rear door of 1.16 x 0.61 m that folds down into steps. Four leather seats face each other in pairs, and the pilot and a fifth passenger sit up front in the same space. Seated it is comfortable, but you cannot stand and the aisle is narrow.

• Pressurised and air-conditioned, so the aircraft can cruise above the weather up to 9,144 m
• No toilet, neither as standard nor as a usual option
• No galley and no cabin crew: drinks and snacks come in a cool bag, and Wi-Fi is rarely fitted
• The propeller is clearly audible throughout the cabin, more than the engines of a jet

Baggage and weight: where the aircraft sets the limit

Piper specifies one baggage area, reachable in flight. It takes:

• three or four soft bags or two small cabin cases
• a pair of skis or a golf bag if a seat is free and the operator lets you put them there
• a larger suitcase only by arrangement, so give size and weight in the request

Weight matters more than volume. With three passengers the operator takes less fuel, and with four or five the leg has to be short, so we ask for the number of people and the rough weight of the bags.

Speed, runways and short airfields

Piper quotes 1,852 km with a 45-minute reserve. With three or more people on board the operator carries less fuel, and the practical limit is about 1,000 km. The M500 is approved for flight into known icing and has weather radar and an autopilot with underspeed protection.

The short take-off opens airfields that many jets cannot use:

One engine under EU rules

Commercial passenger flights in a single-engine turbine aircraft at night or in cloud (IMC) need a SET-IMC approval held by the operator, with engine trend monitoring, a second power source, weather radar and forced-landing procedures.

• One pilot: for instrument flights with passengers EU rules require, among other things, 700 flight hours on aeroplanes
• Domestic legs: an operator from outside the EU, including the UK, cannot normally fly a passenger leg inside one EU country, and London - Edinburgh needs a UK operator

Routes from European hubs

Thirty-one one-way legs from all thirteen hubs, from Nice - Calvi at 179 km to Paris Le Bourget - Saint-Tropez at 712 km, all non-stop with two or three people on board. Prices are for the whole aircraft with pilot and fuel, without airport fees and passenger taxes.

Up to two hours: the right length for a cabin without a toilet

Two to four hours: only with a short stop in mind

• Up to 1:30 h, as on Nice - Olbia or Madrid - Ibiza, the M500 makes most sense, and the missing toilet matters least.
• Milan Linate - Split (1:48 h) and Munich - Split (1:53 h) work for two or three people with light bags.
• Legs of around 1,000 km, such as London - Nice or Madrid - Geneva, are beyond the practical limit with three or more on board, so a faster aircraft such as a TBM or the M600 suits better.

The calculator shows an indicative price for the M500 and other aircraft classes from your own airport, including small airfields.

What a Piper M500 charter costs

The rate starts at EUR 2,000 per flight hour for the whole aircraft with pilot and fuel. A short leg costs more than the rate times the flight time: Nice - Calvi takes 0:53 h and starts at EUR 6,000, because the operator adds a minimum charge and positioning from the aircraft's base.

Further on, this fixed part weighs less: Geneva - Saint-Tropez (1:14 h) starts at EUR 6,500, Madrid - Ibiza (1:30 h) at EUR 7,000 and Paris Le Bourget - Saint-Tropez (2:03 h) at EUR 8,000. The M500 price is the same for two or five passengers.

The price is for the whole aircraft; shared between passengers, Geneva - Saint-Tropez comes to:

How to fly cheaper

Empty Legs: rare, but worth asking

Empty Legs on the M500 itself are rare, as few operators fly it. Accept a TBM or a PC-12 as well, and short summer legs between northern Italy, Switzerland, the Riviera and Corsica or Sardinia become more likely. The discount can be 30-60%, but these are examples: the date and route are fixed, and the leg can be cancelled if the aircraft is booked in full.

Send your route and a date window to empty-legs@jets.flights or use the Empty Legs page.

M500 compared with similar aircraft

Clients asking for an M500 usually end up comparing it with one of these three types.

What we need for a quote

Send the route, date and time, the number of people and the rough weight of the bags. In the M500 weight decides whether a leg can be flown without a stop.

Questions about the Piper M500

• • How much does an M500 cost from Geneva to Saint-Tropez?

  • From EUR 6,500 for the whole aircraft one way according to the table, with a flight time of 1:14 h. Nice to Olbia also starts at EUR 6,500. Airport fees and passenger taxes are added in the quote.

• • What does the price include?

  • The aircraft, the pilot and fuel. Positioning from the base, airport and handling fees, passenger taxes, catering, de-icing and the pilot's hotel on a later return come on top.

• • How can I fly an M500 more cheaply?

  • Return the same day, fly in daylight and let us also quote a TBM or PC-12 based closer to you.

• • Are there Empty Legs on the M500?

  • Rarely on this exact type. Accept a TBM or PC-12 as well, and short summer legs around the Riviera and the islands become more likely, at 30-60% below a normal charter.

• • How many people can really fly?

  • There are five passenger seats, but with full tanks only 254 kg remain for pilot, passengers and bags. On longer legs that means two people with bags, while four or five can fly on short hops with less fuel.

• • Is there a toilet on board?

  • No, neither as standard nor as a usual option. Paris Le Bourget to Saint-Tropez at 2:03 h is about the limit; for longer trips the operator can plan a short stop.

• • Can it fly at night?

  • In EU charter, passenger flights at night or in cloud need an operator with SET-IMC approval; without it the M500 flies in daylight only.

• • Can we take golf bags or skis?

  • One golf bag or a pair of skis fits when a seat is free and the operator agrees. The 0.57 m³ baggage area takes 45 kg at most and suits soft bags.

• • Can it land at small airfields?

  • Yes. At maximum weight the M500 needs 743 m to reach 15 m height, so La Môle with 1,071 m and Samedan with 1,799 m are within reach, subject to weather, weight and the operator's approval.