The question almost always arrives as "which aircraft do I get?", and the answer surprises: you do not decide it, and neither does the price. Three things decide it, in an order that cannot be altered. The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.
The order
First, the destination runway. It is a physical limit and it does not negotiate.
Second, your group and your baggage. Within what the runway allows.
Third, the range. Decisive in the Caribbean, almost irrelevant on short Central American sectors.
The order matters because the first filter can rule options out before the rest come into play.
The destinations that govern the aircraft
These are the catalogue's cases where the terrain decides:
Drake Bay. Seven hundred and fifty metres of runway, and only eleven wide. It is the catalogue's severest restriction, and the width weighs more than the length.
Guanaja. One thousand two hundred and twenty metres by eighteen wide.
Gustaf III, St Barths. Six hundred and forty-six metres: it does not take jets. Anyone arriving from Miami or New York by jet changes aircraft at St Martin, 17.3 nautical miles away.
Punta Gorda, Belize. Seven hundred and twenty-three metres with an approach over water.
And at the other extreme: Liberia, Flores and Providenciales restrict nothing. At those destinations only you and your baggage decide the aircraft.
Why the runway limits the group, not the distance
It is the commonest confusion, and worth undoing.
A short field does not prevent arrival: it prevents arrival in a given aircraft. And since larger aircraft carry more people, the practical effect is on group size, not on range.
Drake Bay is 83.5 nautical miles from San José. The distance is not the problem; the width of the narrowest fields is.
In practice that means an enquiry for two people to Drake Bay is straightforward, and the same one for ten may be simply unworkable — on an identical route.
Baggage, which surprises most
It is the number-one cause of an unexpected step up in category.
Surfboards, dive gear and golf clubs do not take space like suitcases: they are long, and length is what does not fit. A group of four with boards may need the six-seat aircraft. Boards travel according to the assigned category’s available volume: tell us the number and dimensions when requesting the quote.
That is why we ask in the first message: number of items and length of the long ones. It changes the quote more than a hundred nautical miles of difference.
Range: where it matters and where it does not
In Central America, almost never. With sectors of twenty to a hundred and sixty nautical miles, almost any category reaches.
In the Caribbean, always. Teterboro–Providenciales is 1,149.0 nautical miles over open water, and there range with reserves governs above everything else.
It is the same division that separates the catalogue's two halves: over land ask about the runway, over sea ask about the range.
What does not change the aircraft
Crossing a border. The formalities change the lead time, not the category.
The length of the sector, within the range available. A twenty-mile flight and a hundred-mile one can use the same aircraft.
Your preference. We can hear one, and sometimes it can be met, but not above the runway.
Frequently asked questions
Can I choose the aircraft?
You can state a preference and sometimes it is met, but never above what the destination runway allows. The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.
What really decides?
The destination runway first, your group and baggage next, and the range third. The order does not change.
Which destination restricts most?
Drake Bay: 750 metres of runway and only eleven wide. The width weighs more than the length.
Can I fly by jet to St Barths?
No. Gustaf III is 646 metres. Anyone arriving by jet from the mainland changes aircraft at St Martin, 17.3 nautical miles away.
What raises the category most?
Long baggage: boards, dive gear and golf clubs. A group of four with boards may need the six-seat aircraft. Boards travel according to the assigned category’s available volume: tell us the number and dimensions when requesting the quote.
Does range matter in Central America?
Almost never, with sectors of twenty to a hundred and sixty nautical miles. In the Caribbean, always: Teterboro–Providenciales is 1,149.0 over open water.
Enquire
The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.