Bombardier Learjet 55
The Learjet 55 was the only model of the planned Learjet 50 series to be built, designed with a larger cabin than earlier Learjets and fitted with NASA-developed winglets and Garrett TFE731-3 engines. Production aircraft followed from 1981, and 147 were delivered, including the later 55C with delta fins for better stability and runway performance.
In short: The Bombardier Learjet 55 is a Midsize Jet with a range of 2,165 nm, a cruise speed of 470 knots and room for 8 passengers. Pre-owned examples trade around $0.2M–$0.9M and costs roughly $2,100 an hour to operate (estimate).
2,165 nm
Range
470 kts
Max cruise
8–10
Passengers
—
New price
Highlights
- 147 delivered, including the 55C
- NASA-developed winglets
- 51,000 ft certified ceiling
Performance
- Range
- 2,165 nm
- Max cruise
- 470 kts
- Max altitude
- 51,000 ft
- Takeoff distance
- 5,039 ft
- Landing distance
- 3,250 ft
- MTOW
- 21,500 lb
- Engines
- 2 × Honeywell (Garrett) TFE731-3A-2B
- Thrust per engine
- 3,700 lbf
- Fuel burn
- 188 gal/hr
Cabin
- Passengers
- 8 / 10
- Cabin length
- 13.6 ft
- Cabin width
- 5.8 ft
- Cabin height
- 5.6 ft
- Cabin volume
- Not published
- Baggage
- Not published
- Min. crew
- 2
Economics
- New price
- —
- Variable cost / hr
- $2,100
- Fixed cost / yr
- $500,000
- First delivery
- 1981
- Out of production
- 1990
- Units built
- 147
- Pre-owned range
- $0.2M – $0.9M
Estimates. Operating costs and pre-owned prices are modelled from industry benchmarks and updated quarterly. Data reviewed 2026-09-13. Sources & methodology.
Dimensions & weights
- Length
- 55.1 ft
- Wingspan
- 43.8 ft
- Height
- 14.7 ft
Programme milestones
- 1977Announced · Learjet 50 series announced at the Paris Air Show en.wikipedia.org
- 1979-04-19First flight en.wikipedia.org
- 1981First delivery · Introduced into service en.wikipedia.org
- 1987Production ended · Production ends after 147 aircraft en.wikipedia.org
Pre-owned range & Residual value curve
Pre-owned range
$0.2M – $0.9M
Estimates. Operating costs and pre-owned prices are modelled from industry benchmarks and updated quarterly.
Residual value curve
Estimated value retention over 10 years from new, by category depreciation model.
Year 10: 42% ≈ $0.4M
Compare with similar private jets
Compare: Learjet 55 vs Hawker 750 vs Citation XLS Gen2 vs Citation Ascend →
Sources and credits
- Bombardier Learjet 55 · redlegsfan21 from Vandalia, OH, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons