How much does it cost to own a plane? Per year, per month and per hour
October 18, 2026 · Chris van Eijk
What a plane costs to own depends on two numbers more than on anything else: the fixed costs you pay whether you fly or not, and the cost of each hour you fly. This guide works both out line by line with the same cost model as our aircraft ownership cost calculator, and then shows what changes when you fly more or less, pick another type, or share the aircraft.
Short answer: one Cessna 172S flown 100 hours a year costs €24,810 a year at European prices — €9,510 in fixed costs plus €153 for every hour flown — which is €2,068 a month or €248 per hour flown. At US prices it is $22,247 a year: $11,947 fixed plus $103 an hour, or $1,854 a month and $222 per hour flown. Insurance and depreciation come on top and follow what you paid for the aircraft: in the calculator's assumptions, an aircraft worth €100,000 adds €2,400 of insurance (1.5% hull plus €900 liability) and €5,000 of depreciation a year.
What one year of a Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP costs at 100 hours, before insurance and depreciation
- Fixed costs — paid whether you fly or not
- Hourly costs — paid per flight hour
European prices: €24,810 a year · €2,068 a month · €248 per hour flown
| Cost | How it adds up | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Hangarage | per year | €3,000 |
| Annual inspection / ARC | per year | €2,000 |
| Navigation database (e.g. Garmin) | per year | €600 |
| Charts / EFB (e.g. Jeppesen) | per year | €300 |
| Weather service | per year | €150 |
| Bookkeeping / administration | per year | €960 |
| Engine overhaul reserve (Lycoming IO-360-L2A) | per year | €2,500 |
| Fuel (AVGAS 100LL) | €106 × 100 h | €10,600 |
| Oil | €2 × 100 h | €200 |
| 50/100-hour inspections | €45 × 100 h | €4,500 |
| One year | €9,510 + €15,300 | €24,810 |
US prices: $22,247 a year · $1,854 a month · $222 per hour flown
| Cost | How it adds up | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Hangarage | per year | $4,800 |
| Annual inspection / ARC | per year | $2,000 |
| Navigation database (e.g. Garmin) | per year | $700 |
| Charts / EFB (e.g. Jeppesen) | per year | $300 |
| Weather service | per year | $150 |
| Bookkeeping / administration | per year | $1,080 |
| Engine overhaul reserve (Lycoming IO-360-L2A) | per year | $2,917 |
| Fuel (AVGAS 100LL) | $61 × 100 h | $6,100 |
| Oil | $2 × 100 h | $200 |
| 50/100-hour inspections | $40 × 100 h | $4,000 |
| One year | $11,947 + $10,300 | $22,247 |
The fixed costs: what you pay whether you fly or not
For the Cessna 172S at European prices the fixed costs are €9,510 a year: hangarage €3,000, the annual inspection €2,000, the engine overhaul reserve €2,500, a navigation database €600, charts €300 and a weather service €150, plus €960 for your own bookkeeping time (24 hours a year at €40 an hour — time, not a bill). At US prices the same lines add up to $11,947, mostly because hangarage is $4,800.
The engine reserve is the line people forget. A Lycoming IO-360 has an overhaul interval of 2,000 hours or 12 years, whichever comes first (Lycoming Service Instruction 1009). Below about 167 hours a year the calendar comes first, so the overhaul has to be saved for per year — €2,500 at European prices — and not per hour. That is why it sits with the fixed costs here.
The hourly costs: what each flight hour uses up
Each flight hour costs €153 at European prices: fuel €106 (33 litres of AVGAS at the calculator's default €3.20 a litre), oil €2 and €45 for the 50- and 100-hour inspections. At US prices it is $103: fuel $61, oil $2 and inspections $40. Fuel is the largest single hourly cost, which is why a wet hourly rate and a dry one differ so much — see wet vs dry rate.
Insurance and depreciation: they follow what you paid
Both follow what you paid for this particular airframe, not the type, so the calculator works them out from your purchase value. Its assumptions at European prices: hull insurance at 1.5% of the hull value plus €900 a year of liability insurance, and depreciation in a straight line over 10 years to a 50% residual value. For every €100,000 of value that is €1,500 of hull insurance and €5,000 of depreciation a year; the €900 of liability does not grow with the value. At US prices the hull rate is 1.2% ($1,200 per $100,000) and liability $700. Depreciation is not money that leaves your account each year, but you get it back only when you sell — and only if the market agrees with the 50%.
The more you fly, the cheaper each hour
The fixed costs do not change with the hours, so every extra hour spreads them thinner. The same Cessna 172S costs €533 per hour flown at 25 hours a year, €343 at 50, €248 at 100, €216 at 150 and €203 at 200. At 200 hours the engine reaches its 2,000-hour limit before its 12-year limit, so the overhaul reserve moves to the hourly costs (€15 an hour, making €168) and the fixed costs fall to €7,010. That €168 ($121 at US prices) is the hourly cost our flying club and wet-vs-dry guides use, because a club aircraft flies well over 167 hours a year.
Cost per hour flown: the fewer hours, the more each one carries
- Fixed costs — paid whether you fly or not
- Hourly costs — paid per flight hour
| Hours a year | Per hour flown, European prices | One year, European / US prices |
|---|---|---|
| 25 h | €533/h | €13,335 / $14,522 a year |
| 50 h | €343/h | €17,160 / $17,097 a year |
| 100 h | €248/h | €24,810 / $22,247 a year |
| 150 h | €216/h | €32,460 / $27,397 a year |
| 200 h | €203/h | €40,610 / $33,230 a year |
If you fly 25 or 50 hours a year, the question is less "which aircraft" than "how many people share it".
Sharing the aircraft
When owners share an aircraft, each pays a share of the fixed costs and the hourly cost of their own flying. With every owner flying 50 hours a year, one owner pays €17,160 a year alone, €12,405 with one partner, €10,820 with two and €10,153 with three — from €1,430 a month to €846. At US prices it goes from $17,097 to $8,308 a year. The hourly cost of each owner's own 50 hours stays about the same (with four owners the aircraft flies 200 hours and the engine reserve moves into it); what falls is the share of the hangar, the inspection, the subscriptions and the engine reserve.
What one owner pays a year: alone, or sharing with one to three partners
- Fixed costs — paid whether you fly or not
- Hourly costs — paid per flight hour
| Owners | One owner per year, European prices | Per month, European / US prices |
|---|---|---|
| 1 owner | €17,160 | €1,430 / $1,425 a month |
| 2 owners | €12,405 | €1,034 / $927 a month |
| 3 owners | €10,820 | €902 / $761 a month |
| 4 owners | €10,153 | €846 / $692 a month |
Who pays what is the first thing to write down. AOPA's co-ownership agreement checklist asks the same three money questions: whether fixed expenses such as insurance, tie-down fees, annuals and hangar fees are "paid based on equal shares by all co-owners or adjusted based on hours flown"; whether operating expenses like fuel, oil and maintenance are borne "equally or in proportion to hours flown"; and whether to set up an overhaul fund — how much to contribute, how often, and whether to refund part of it to a co-owner who sells. The figure above uses equal shares for the fixed costs, the engine reserve included, and each owner's own hours for the rest.
The catch in a partnership is not the arithmetic but keeping it up: a monthly share from each owner, an hourly charge for every flight, and a balance that everyone can check. Our guide to aircraft partnership software compares the tools that do that, and the calculator's own result shows the split for your numbers.
What other aircraft cost to own
The calculator compares 33 types at the same 100 hours a year. Eight of them, from a two-seat microlight to a single-engine jet:
What it costs to own eight aircraft types, from a microlight to a single-engine jet
| Aircraft | Fixed / year | Per hour | Year at 100 h | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comco Ikarus C42 | €7,010$9,563 | €65$48 | €13,510$14,363 | €1,126$1,197 |
| Cessna 152 | €9,510$11,947 | €121$85 | €21,610$20,447 | €1,801$1,704 |
| Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP | €9,510$11,947 | €153$103 | €24,810$22,247 | €2,068$1,854 |
| Piper PA-28-181 Archer | €9,510$11,947 | €169$112 | €26,410$23,147 | €2,201$1,929 |
| Diamond DA40 XLT (Lycoming) | €10,260$12,613 | €156$105 | €25,860$23,113 | €2,155$1,926 |
| Cirrus SR22 | €14,427$17,080 | €278$186 | €42,227$35,680 | €3,519$2,973 |
| Daher TBM 960 | €22,604$26,397 | €1,186$1,079 | €141,204$134,297 | €11,767$11,191 |
| Cirrus Vision Jet (SF50 G3) | €66,967$78,230 | €990$893 | €165,967$167,530 | €13,831$13,961 |
A Comco Ikarus C42 costs €13,510 a year at European prices and a Cirrus SR22 €42,227. A Daher TBM 960 costs €141,204 and a Cirrus Vision Jet €165,967 — most of the jet's fixed costs are its maintenance programme and its hangar; what a Vision Jet, TBM 960 or PC-12 costs to own compares the turbine types in detail. The full table of all 33 types, and the per-type figures in the calculator, are on the aircraft ownership cost calculator page.
Owning, sharing or joining a club
At 25 to 50 hours a year, owning alone is the most expensive way to fly: €343 to €533 per hour flown in the example, before insurance and depreciation. Sharing with three partners brings one owner's year at 50 hours down to €10,153. A flying club spreads the fixed costs over many more members — see how much a flying club costs and how to start a flying club for what that means in dues and hourly rates.
Every amount in this guide is a planning assumption from the calculator, not a quote. Open the calculator, pick your type, and replace any line with your own hangar, insurance and fuel price.