The Bombardier Challenger 850 is a VIP corporate shuttle built on the Regional Jet (CRJ-200) fuselage, bringing airliner-class cabin volume to private aviation. With an 8'2" wide, 38'8" long cabin and 178 cu ft of baggage space, the Challenger 850 accommodates up to 14 VIP passengers in a layout that typically features a forward lounge, dining area, private stateroom, and full galley. The CF34-3B engines deliver 2,892 nm range and 459 KTAS cruise to FL410.
On value the Challenger 850 makes a strong case, turning modest operating costs into a lower hourly rate than clients expect for this much aircraft. Empty-leg and off-peak availability can drop the price further when the diary allows. Pound for pound, it is hard to argue with on a charter budget.
As a Bombardier product the Challenger 850 brings a respected name and a worldwide support network, reassurance that matters as much to charter clients as the cabin itself. Decades of service have wrung the surprises out of the design. Choosing the aircraft is choosing a known, trusted quantity.
Worth knowing: The Challenger 850 is a business jet built on a regional-airliner airframe, giving it a genuine walk-around cabin with a stateroom that smaller jets simply cannot offer. Small wonder it remains a favourite on charter fleets.
Cabin comfort is where the Challenger 850 earns its keep on charter, offering up to 14 seats, 178 cubic feet of baggage and the flexibility to lay the interior out around the trip rather than the other way round. A flat, quiet floor measuring 8 ft 2 in wide by 38 ft 8 in long means you can work, meet or sleep without the compromises of a scheduled cabin. It is the sort of space that turns a long day into a productive one.
At roughly 459 knots, about Mach 0.80 the Challenger 850 is quick for its class, and regular charter clients notice it first, because a faster jet quietly rewrites what fits into a single day. The same pace shortens exposure to turbulence and keeps schedules honest into congested airspace. For anyone whose time carries a real cost, the aircraft pays for itself.
Range is a quiet strength of the Challenger 850: close to 2892 nautical miles links city pairs such as Paris to Riyadh without touching down, the kind of reach that reshapes a schedule. It also opens up direct routings the airlines simply do not fly. That freedom, more than any single feature, is why clients return to this midsize jet for the longer trips.
Where the Challenger 850 asks a compromise on charter:
The Challenger 850 cabin is generous for midsize jet work, though it will not pretend to the walk-about width of a heavy jet. For most trips that is the right trade, and where a client truly needs a stateroom we point them up a class.
If outright top speed or the newest cabin technology is your single priority, a more recent design may edge it, yet for most travellers the Challenger 850 balance of comfort, capability and value is the more meaningful advantage on the day.
As alternatives to the Challenger 850, it is worth weighing the Challenger 604 and the Challenger 605, both able aircraft in the same bracket. Broadly the Challenger 604 offers the newer cabin, while the Challenger 850 keeps the more modern flight deck, so the right pick comes down to your exact route, party and budget, which our advisors are glad to lay out side by side.
In short, few aircraft do transcontinental and medium-haul charter as gracefully as the Challenger 850, and where it is the right tool we place it on fully vetted, certified partners at a fixed all-in price, with an answer back inside 30 minutes.
Tell me your route, dates and party size and I will send a firm, all-in price on the Challenger 850. No commitment, no obligation.