What does it cost to own a Vision Jet, a TBM 960 or a PC-12? Seven types compared
October 18, 2026 · Chris van Eijk
Apart from insurance and depreciation, a single-engine turboprop or a light jet costs its money in two places: the hours you fly it, and a maintenance programme or hangar you pay for whether it flies or not. This guide compares seven of them with the cost model of our aircraft ownership cost calculator, at US prices because that is how these aircraft are priced, and works out what one owner pays when a Cirrus Vision Jet is shared.
Short answer: flown 200 hours a year, a Cirrus Vision Jet (SF50 G3) costs $256,830 a year to operate in the calculator — $78,230 in fixed costs plus $893 for every hour flown, or $1,284 per hour flown — before insurance and depreciation. A Pilatus PC-12 PRO comes to $256,597 ($1,283 per hour flown), a Daher TBM 960 to $242,197 ($1,211) and a Piper M600 SLS to $169,397 ($847). The twin-engine light jets cost more: a HondaJet Elite II $305,830, a Cessna Citation M2 Gen2 $389,030 and an Embraer Phenom 100EX $391,630. Every amount is a planning assumption, not a quote.
What a turboprop or light jet costs to operate for 200 hours a year
- Fixed costs a year
- Hourly costs × 200 h
| Aircraft | One year at 200 hours | Fixed per year and per flight hour |
|---|---|---|
| Piper M600 SLS | $169,397 | $24,397 + $725/h · $847 per hour flown |
| Daher TBM 960 | $242,197 | $26,397 + $1,079/h · $1,211 per hour flown |
| Pilatus PC-12 PRO | $256,597 | $30,397 + $1,131/h · $1,283 per hour flown |
| Cirrus Vision Jet (SF50 G3) | $256,830 | $78,230 + $893/h · $1,284 per hour flown |
| HondaJet Elite II | $305,830 | $32,230 + $1,368/h · $1,529 per hour flown |
| Cessna Citation M2 Gen2 | $389,030 | $32,230 + $1,784/h · $1,945 per hour flown |
| Embraer Phenom 100EX | $391,630 | $32,230 + $1,797/h · $1,958 per hour flown |
Why the Vision Jet has the highest fixed costs
The Vision Jet's fixed costs are $78,230 a year against $24,397 to $32,230 for the other six. Almost all of the difference is one line: in the calculator, a programme fee of about $58,000 a year, on top of about $450 per flight hour, from an estimate by SF50 Flight Support (August 2026). According to the same source, Cirrus JetStream covers the engine programme, the scheduled maintenance and the 10-year parachute repack, so the calculator gives the Vision Jet no separate annual inspection or overhaul reserve. The other types carry their maintenance in the hourly cost instead, which is largely why the Vision Jet's hourly cost ($893) is lower than that of the turboprops ($1,079 for the TBM 960, $1,131 for the PC-12 PRO).
The consequence: the fewer hours you fly, the more the Vision Jet's fixed fee weighs. At 100 hours a year it costs $167,530, more than the TBM 960 ($134,297) and the PC-12 PRO ($143,497). At 200 hours it costs about the same per hour flown as the PC-12.
Insurance and depreciation for a new Vision Jet
Both follow the price you pay. The calculator starts a type that is still built as new, at an indicative price: $3,680,000 for the Vision Jet G3 as equipped, the price quoted by AOPA in March 2026 — a press figure, not a Cirrus price list. At that value the calculator's planning assumptions give $40,800 a year of insurance (1% of the hull value plus $4,000 liability) and $184,000 of depreciation (a straight line over 10 years to a 50% residual value — an assumption, not a market forecast).
One owner flying 200 hours a year then spends $481,630 a year, or $2,408 per hour flown, of which $224,800 is insurance and depreciation.
Sharing a Vision Jet
Sharing divides exactly the lines that make a jet expensive: the programme fee, the hangar, the insurance and the depreciation. With every owner flying 50 hours a year, one owner pays $347,680 a year alone, $196,165 with one partner, $145,660 with two and $120,408 with three — everything included. Without insurance and depreciation, it is $122,880 alone and $64,208 with three partners.
What one Vision Jet owner pays a year, alone or with one to three partners
- Operating costs (fixed share + own hours)
- Share of insurance and depreciation
| Owners | One owner per year, everything | Operating costs only |
|---|---|---|
| 1 owner | $347,680 | $122,880 operating |
| 2 owners | $196,165 | $83,765 operating |
| 3 owners | $145,660 | $70,727 operating |
| 4 owners | $120,408 | $64,208 operating |
What has to be agreed between owners is the same as for a piston aircraft: who pays which fixed costs, how each owner's hours are charged, and what happens when an owner sells. Our guide to aircraft partnership software compares the tools that keep the shares and the hours, and how much it costs to own a plane works out the same questions for a Cessna 172S.
How to use these figures
The calculator's turbine figures are planning assumptions. The Vision Jet's come from a third-party estimate of its JetStream programme (SF50 Flight Support), several from broker operating-cost estimates (Guardian Jet for the Citation M2, the Phenom 100 family and the PC-12 NGX), the M600 SLS's engine reserve from a published overhaul price range (Jetset Airmotive) with its maintenance a planning assumption, and where a maker publishes no rate they are derived: the HondaJet's from the variable cost Business & Commercial Aviation published in 2024, the TBM 960's in line with the PC-12's. The calculator shows the source next to every line. Open the aircraft ownership cost calculator, pick your type, and replace any line with your own quote, hangar and fuel price.