Richard Branson’s Dassault Falcon 7X
Branson's Virgin Group flew a Falcon 900EX nicknamed 'Galactic Girl' for years before selling it to Max Verstappen in 2020; he is now reported to use a Falcon 7X. His aircraft collection has also included a Falcon 50EX and, of course, the Virgin Galactic mothership.
What it costs to keep flying
If flown 300 hours a year, our model puts the annual bill at:
- Crew, hangar, insurance, training
- $1,450K
- Fuel & maintenance (300 h)
- $1,440K
- Depreciation
- $3,088K
- Cost of capital (5%)
- $2,700K
Estimate. Bespoke interiors, extra crew and hangar in premium locations push it higher.
The aircraft
- Type
- Dassault Aviation Falcon 7X
- Class
- Ultra-Long-Range
- Range
- 5,950 nm
- Max cruise
- 488 kts (Mach 0.9)
- Passengers
- 12–16
- Cabin
- 39.1 × 7.7 × 6.2 ft
- New price
- $54M
- Fuel burn
- 340 gal/h
Sources: simpleflying.com · bjtonline.com
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Jeff Bezos
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Bill Gates
Gulfstream G650ER (two) · $70M reported
Gates is reported to own two G650ERs, both 2018 builds based at Boeing Field in Seattle, plus access to Challenger 350s via a NetJets arrangement. He has called private flying his 'guilty pleasure' and says he offsets his emissions by funding direct-air-capture and sustainable fuel ventures.