Piper PA-31 Navajo

The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a twin piston aircraft with turbocharged Lycoming engines, built for air taxi work and small regional airlines. The cabin usually has six passenger seats, sometimes seven, and the stretched Chieftain version takes up to nine. For a group of five with bags it is one of the cheapest ways to fly privately on a short leg.

Cabin, noise and pressure

Catalogue data give the basic Navajo cabin as about 3.27 m long, 1.30 m high and 1.27 m wide. The seats are comfortable, but you reach yours bent over. The layout depends on the aircraft, and whether a passenger may sit next to the pilot is up to the operator.

• No pressurisation: above about 3,000 m passengers would need oxygen, so with people on board the aircraft flies lower than a jet, more often in cloud and turbulence
• The engines sit right beside the cabin, so it is louder than a turboprop
• A toilet depends on the aircraft and, where fitted, is a simple seat without a separate compartment
• No galley, no cabin crew, and Wi-Fi is usually not fitted

Baggage and weight

Bags go in the nose hold and in the rear of the cabin behind the last seats. With four people, each can bring a medium suitcase and a soft bag. Hold sizes differ between versions, so mention skis and golf bags in the request.

Weight matters more than volume. With full tanks about 665 kg remain for the pilot, passengers and luggage, so six or seven adults with suitcases mean less fuel and, on a longer leg, a stop. The Chieftain carries more.

Versions, performance and weather

The Navajo C/R has counter-rotating engines of 325 hp, and the PA-31-350 Chieftain has 350 hp engines and up to ten seats including the pilot. Figures here refer to the basic Navajo; which version you get depends on the operator, and we name it in the offer.

What matters in Europe

• Two engines allow sea crossings to Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics, which a single-engine piston cannot fly commercially
• Domestic legs inside one EU country need an EU operator, and UK domestic legs need a UK operator
• Nice and Geneva have limited slots and parking on summer weekends, so book early
• Cyprus is in the EU but outside Schengen, so passports are checked on every flight from Larnaca

For each offer we ask the operator about de-icing and weather radar, the seat layout and whether one or two pilots fly. The first decides whether a winter flight goes ahead, the others the number of seats and the payload.

Routes from European hubs

Thirty-one one-way legs from all thirteen hubs, from Zurich - Sion at 0:57 h to Munich - Split at 2:14 h. Prices are for the whole aircraft with pilot and fuel, without airport fees and passenger taxes.

Up to two hours: the best range for this cabin

Two to four hours: possible, but tiring in a noisy cabin

• Island and coastal legs such as Nice - Calvi, Geneva - Calvi or Madrid - Ibiza are where the Navajo is most at home.
• Nice - Palma (2:06 h), Vienna - Dubrovnik (2:12 h) and Munich - Split (2:14 h) work, but a full cabin may need less fuel and the weather has to cooperate.
• On longer legs, a turboprop such as the Pilatus PC-12 flies above most of the weather and saves time.

The calculator shows an indicative price for the Navajo or a similar twin on your route.

What a Piper Navajo charter costs

The rate starts at EUR 1,300 per flight hour for the aircraft with pilot and fuel. On short legs the price is above rate x time: Nice - Calvi takes 0:59 h and starts at EUR 4,500, because of the operator's minimum charge and positioning from the base.

Geneva - Saint-Tropez (1:25 h) starts at EUR 5,000, Madrid - Ibiza (1:45 h) at EUR 5,500 and Vienna - Dubrovnik (2:12 h) at EUR 6,000. You pay for the aircraft, not the seat.

The price covers the whole aircraft; shared between passengers, Nice - Olbia comes to:

Ways to pay less

Empty Legs on this type

Empty Legs on the Navajo appear only occasionally and mostly near the operators' bases. If any twin or turboprop will do, summer repositioning legs between the Riviera, Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearics and Croatia become more likely, at 30-60% below a normal charter as examples. 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.

Navajo compared with similar aircraft

For the same group, clients usually weigh a larger piston twin, a pressurised twin or a turboprop.

What we need for a quote

Send the route, date, number of people and approximate weight of the bags, since weight decides how much fuel the aircraft can take. Say straight away if the flight falls in winter or in the evening.

Questions about the Piper PA-31 Navajo

• • How much does a Navajo cost from Nice to Olbia?

  • From EUR 5,000 for the whole aircraft one way according to the table, with a flight time of 1:28 h. Airport fees, handling and passenger taxes are added in the quote.

• • What makes up the price?

  • Flight time at the hourly rate, positioning from the base, airport and handling fees, passenger taxes, de-icing in winter and the pilot's hotel on a later return.

• • How can I fly cheaper?

  • Fill the seats, return the same day on short legs and let us also quote twins or turboprops based near your airport.

• • Are there Empty Legs on the Navajo?

  • Occasionally, mostly near the operators' bases. Accepting another twin or a turboprop raises the chance, with discounts of 30-60% as examples.

• • How many people really fit?

  • Six or seven passenger seats, up to nine in the Chieftain. With a full cabin and suitcases the operator cannot fill the tanks, so four or five people with bags for several days travel most comfortably.

• • Is there a toilet on board?

  • It depends on the aircraft, and where fitted it is a simple seat without a separate room. For legs over two hours a turboprop with a proper toilet is the better choice.

• • Will it fly in bad weather?

  • It can fly by instruments at night and in cloud. Without pressurisation it stays low, where turbulence is stronger, and storms or icing can delay or cancel the flight.

• • Can it land at small airports?

  • Yes, at airfields with a paved runway and AVGAS on sale; about 820 m of runway is quoted for the Chieftain. Weather, weight and the operator's approval decide each case.

• • Can I bring my dog?

  • Usually yes, in the cabin, once the operator has agreed. Within the EU it needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination and an EU pet passport.