Tired of crowded airports and airliners packed like sardines? Magnifica Air is the newest entry into the semi-private airline space.
Like others, it seeks to split the large gap between less expensive first class seating on scheduled airlines and more costly charter flights on private jets.
Magnifica Air is planning to join JSX, Aero, Slate, and several others currently in the segment.
Its first commercial flight is planned for the third quarter of 2027.
It will offer the most luxurious version to date, testing a market that is still in the proving stage.
The Orlando, Florida-based start-up is hoping to grow to as many as 50 aircraft.
The initial routes will link Miami, New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas, and Houston.
There will also be seasonal flights to resort destinations and pop-up flights to significant events such as the Super Bowl and Art Basel Miami.
It plans to use a combination of Airbus A220-300 and A321neo twin-engine jets.
They will have a luxury configuration with just 45 to 54 seats, including two to four private suites.
Air France puts 148 seats on its A220-300 fleet; Delta Air Lines has 130 seats on its version with 194 seats on its A321neos.
Magnifica Air will operate under Part 121 supplemental ops regulations.
Like other semi-private airlines, it will offer a published schedule of flights and sell individual seats on its flights, mirroring the way you buy tickets on airlines.
Like the others, Magnifica Air will also fly from private terminals so passengers can avoid crowded airport terminals. That feature can cut as much as an hour of travel time at each end.
The seating appears like what you find on those round-the-world private jet tours.
Seats are in a 2-by-2 configuration with plenty of legroom.
That hints a bit at Magnifica Air’s bigger play.
When it isn’t running its scheduled flights, executives see a robust market for sports team charters, corporate shuttles, and yes, that ever-growing segment of private jet tours by Four Seasons, A&K, Disney and others that use similarly configured passenger jets.
Its launch last week during the National Business Aviation Association’s annual convention in Las Vegas, where the trade show floor attracts corporate flight department heads, speaks to how its success may in part be based on the charter market.
Offering the public a nicer by-the-seat option to the big legacy airlines has historically not always worked out well.
From Air 1, MGM Grand Air, Legend Airlines, EOS, MaxJet, Silver Jet, OpenSkies, Surf Air, Rise and others, including an all-business class flight between New York and London by British Airways, none had staying power.
That’s not to say all attempts have been failures.
La Compagnie offers all-business-class transatlantic flights; JSX has grown its version of semi-private flights to a nationwide network and has seemingly carved a niche in the market. Aero, after retrenching, has found success attracting Los Angeles-based flyers. There are a handful of similarly scheduled services that fly between the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii, catering to residents of private communities there.
With the growth of HNWs and luxury travel riding a seemingly unstoppable wave of demand and increased prices, where a 5-star hotel room in major cities regularly starts at over $1,000 per night, there could be an appetite for Magnifica Air.
The press release teases making “air travel as an invitation into a cultural, emotional, and curated world.”
In truth, Magnifica Air’s success will likely depend heavily on schedules, the airports it selects for those flights, pricing, service where you don’t feel like the enemy, and most importantly on-time performance.
Co-founder and CEO Wade Black says, unlike the other by-the-seat outfits, Magnifica Air will attract business travelers with schedules that enable them to fly out and back on the same day.
It has already announced a membership program starting at $14,950 for families and $29,950 for companies. Members will get guaranteed pricing and seats.
Black says think $2,500 each way, New York to Miami. That fits between the $400 to $800 charged by the airlines, $500 to $1,200 on JSX, which operates reconfigured regional jets with extra legroom, Slate, which comes in around $2,000 on similar regional jets, with more spacious seating, and the cost of a six-seat light jet, which would be in the $15,000 range.
One-third (32.9%) of subscribers to Private Jet Card Comparisons who mainly used jet cards, private jet charter flights, and fractional ownership, say they are interested in by-the-seat options while in the buying process. Nearly 90% toggle between the airlines and private jets based on time savings, ability to use more convenient airports, and avoiding connections.
Magnifica Air will also have reserve aircraft to backup any mechanical delays, which can be the Achilles heel of the model, not that the regular airlines do an excellent job on rebooking passengers these days.
There’s an old joke in the airline industry. If you want to make a million dollars, start with a billion.
Aviation Week reported that Magnifica Air has already raised $150 million to get it going, with plans to attract even more money.