Buying an aircraft is a structured transaction with a dozen dependent stages, not a purchase. This guide sets out the roadmap, the professionals involved and the fees, so you know what happens and in what order.
You have decided to own rather than charter, and the market looks straightforward: browse listings, pick a tail number, wire the money. Then the questions begin — whose adviser represents you, why the deposit sits in escrow, what a pre-purchase inspection can uncover, whether to register in the United States or offshore, and how the tax structure changes the total by seven figures. A private jet acquisition run without a defined process is where buyers overpay, inherit hidden defects and discover their ownership entity was built wrong after closing.
Every sound acquisition begins not with a listing but with the mission. Before any aircraft is considered, the honest questions are how far you fly, how often, with how many passengers, from which home base, and into which airports. Those answers set the required range, cabin size and runway performance, and they eliminate most of the market before you spend a day looking at it. Buyers who invert this order — falling for a cabin, then bending the mission to justify it — are the ones who trade out at a loss within three years.
The output of this stage is a tight shortlist of two or three types that genuinely fit, with a defined budget band covering acquisition and the annual cost of ownership. A light jet that cannot reach your regular destination non-stop, or a large-cabin aircraft you fill to a quarter of capacity, is a mismatch no discount repairs. Selection also weighs age, pedigree, engine programme enrolment and the depth of the used market for that type, because a shortlist of one is a weak negotiating position. Done properly, this stage is analytical and unglamorous, and it determines whether the entire acquisition succeeds.
A private aircraft transaction is not a field to enter alone, and the professionals you retain shape the outcome as much as the aircraft you choose. The core team is small but non-negotiable, and each member is paid to protect a different flank of the deal.
The temptation to save fees by thinning this team is a false economy. A single undisclosed corrosion finding or a mishandled tax election costs a multiple of every professional fee combined.
With the shortlist and team in place, the adviser runs a discreet market search — screening advertised listings and, more valuably, aircraft not yet publicly marketed — and benchmarks each candidate on hours, cycles, maintenance status, damage history and modification standard. From this you select a lead aircraft and open negotiations through a Letter of Intent.
The Letter of Intent, or LOI, is the pivot of the transaction. It sets the proposed price, the deposit, the inspection scope and location, who pays for what, and an exclusivity period during which the seller takes the aircraft off the market for you. On acceptance, a deposit — commonly around 5 to 10 per cent of the purchase price — is wired not to the seller but to a neutral escrow agent, frequently a specialist title company. Escrow is the buyer's protection: the funds are released only when defined conditions are met, and if the aircraft fails inspection on terms the LOI allows, the deposit is returned. Never send a deposit direct to a seller, and never proceed without a signed LOI defining what the inspection may reject.
The pre-purchase inspection is the single most important step in the acquisition, and it is where a good technical representative earns their fee many times over. Conducted at an approved facility, it examines the airframe, engines, avionics and every logbook, confirming the aircraft is airworthy, that its records are complete and continuous, and that its maintenance status matches what was represented. Corrosion, undocumented repairs, damage history and lapsed inspections all surface here rather than after you own the problem. A typical inspection costs tens of thousands of dollars and takes one to two weeks; it is the cheapest insurance in the transaction.
Findings feed directly into the purchase agreement. The aircraft is expected to be delivered airworthy with a fresh inspection and no open discrepancies, so squawks identified are either rectified by the seller at their cost or reflected in a price adjustment before closing. The definitive purchase agreement, drafted by your attorney, then fixes price, delivery condition, allocation of costs, representations and warranties, and the closing mechanics. Only when its conditions are satisfied does escrow move: funds to the seller, title and registration to you, simultaneously.
Where and how the aircraft is registered, and through which entity it is owned, is a decision made early and executed at closing — and it materially changes cost, privacy and operational flexibility. The two broad routes are a domestic register such as the United States (an N-registration) and an offshore register.
| Consideration | US (N-registration) | Offshore register |
|---|---|---|
| Owner eligibility | US citizen or qualifying entity generally required | Open to non-residents; owner-trust structures common |
| Privacy | Ownership more visible on public record | Greater confidentiality via trust or corporate owner |
| Typical appeal | US-based operations, financing, resale liquidity | International owners, tax planning, discretion |
| Complexity and cost | Straightforward but citizenship-gated | Higher set-up and annual administration cost |
Registration runs in parallel with tax structuring. Sales and use tax, import VAT or duty, and available exemptions turn on where the aircraft is delivered, based and flown, and on how the owning entity is built. On an aircraft of US$15–US$30 million, the difference between a considered structure and a careless one is routinely seven figures. This is precisely why the tax adviser and attorney are engaged before, not after, the LOI is signed.
Closing is not the finish line; a delivered aircraft still needs to fly, and the operating framework should be arranged before delivery, not scrambled after. Most private owners appoint a management company to handle maintenance oversight, regulatory compliance, insurance, scheduling and, where wanted, charter of the aircraft to offset cost. Crewing — recruiting, training and rostering qualified pilots, and cabin crew on larger types — is arranged in the same window so the aircraft can enter service on delivery. These are recurring ownership costs, distinct from the acquisition itself, and they belong in the budget set at stage one.
The full timeline, from mission analysis to a flying aircraft, typically runs three to six months, with the pre-purchase inspection and closing concentrated in the final weeks. Indicative one-off acquisition fees are set out below.
| Stage | Typical duration | Indicative fee (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| Mission analysis & selection | 2–4 weeks | Retainer, folded into adviser fee |
| Acquisition adviser | Across the deal | 1–3% of purchase price |
| Market search to signed LOI | 3–8 weeks | Included in adviser fee |
| Deposit into escrow | At LOI | 5–10% of price (refundable) |
| Pre-purchase inspection | 1–2 weeks | 20,000–80,000+ |
| Legal, entity & registration | 2–6 weeks | 15,000–50,000+ |
| Tax structuring | In parallel | 10,000–50,000+ |
Read as a whole, the process is demanding but entirely knowable. Each stage protects the next, and the fees above are trivial against the eight-figure asset they safeguard.
We source and vet aircraft through a private Marketplace network, including tails never publicly listed, and represent you alone across every stage — mission analysis, market search, LOI, escrow, pre-purchase inspection, purchase agreement, registration and tax structuring — under NDA. We assemble and coordinate your attorney, technical representative and tax adviser, then negotiate a single all-in figure. Tell us the mission and the budget, and we return a shortlist that actually fits, with the process managed to delivery.
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A typical acquisition runs three to six months from mission analysis to a flying aircraft. Selection and market search fill the early weeks, negotiation and the Letter of Intent the middle, and the pre-purchase inspection, legal work, registration and closing concentrate in the final few weeks. Complex tax or offshore structures can extend the timeline.
For any serious purchase, yes. A buyer's acquisition adviser runs the market search, benchmarks pricing, manages the transaction and represents you alone rather than the seller. Fees are commonly one to three per cent of the purchase price, and they are repaid many times over in a sharper price and a cleaner, better-protected deal.
Escrow protects the buyer. The deposit — usually around five to ten per cent of the price — is wired to a neutral escrow agent, not the seller, and released only when the agreed conditions are met. If the aircraft fails the pre-purchase inspection on terms the Letter of Intent allows, the deposit is returned to you.
It depends on your citizenship, where the aircraft is based and flown, and your privacy and tax objectives. A US N-registration suits US-based operations and resale liquidity but is citizenship-gated; an offshore register offers greater confidentiality and international flexibility at higher administration cost. Decide this with your attorney and tax adviser before signing the LOI.
A pre-purchase inspection typically costs tens of thousands of dollars and takes one to two weeks at an approved facility. It examines the airframe, engines, avionics and all logbooks to confirm the aircraft is airworthy, its records complete, and its condition as represented, surfacing corrosion, damage history or lapsed maintenance before you own the problem.
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