Aircraft
King Air 350: Specs, Range, and Real Charter Costs
Full King Air 350 specs, range, cabin size, and charter rates
The King Air 350 is a twin-engine turboprop, not a jet. That distinction matters, because almost every comparison you will read puts it on a list of private jets and then judges it by jet standards. Judged on its own terms, the Beechcraft King Air 350 flies 1,806 nautical miles at 312 knots for roughly half the hourly cost of a light jet, and it is the single most-flown business turboprop in the world.
This page covers the published specs, the cabin, what charter really costs once minimums are applied, and the door-to-door arithmetic against a light jet on a typical regional leg.
What the King Air 350 is, and what it is not
The King Air 350 is a pressurized twin turboprop powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A engines, each rated at 1,050 shaft horsepower. Propellers, not turbofans. It cruises around 27,000 to 35,000 feet, well below jet cruise altitudes, and it carries up to 11 occupants.
The naming is genuinely confusing, so here is the sequence:
- King Air 350 — the original, introduced in 1990.
- King Air 350i — the 2009 update with a redesigned interior and lower cabin noise.
- King Air 360 — the current production model, launched in 2020 by Textron Aviation.
- 350ER / 360ER — extended-range variants with heavier gross weight and roughly 2,700 nm of range, used heavily for medevac and special-mission work.
Range and cruise speed are unchanged from the 350 through the 350i to the current 360. Textron did not chase more speed with the 360; it improved the cockpit, autopilot, and cabin pressurization instead. If someone quotes you a “new King Air 350,” what they mean is a King Air 360, because the 350i is no longer built.
King Air 350 range and speed
The King Air 350 flies 1,806 nautical miles with a maximum cruise speed of 312 knots true airspeed. Service ceiling is 35,000 feet, and takeoff distance is 3,300 feet with a landing distance of 2,692 feet.
Those numbers sit in an unusual place. On range, the King Air is competitive with light jets rather than behind them: 1,806 nm against 2,010 nm for an Embraer Phenom 300E is a modest gap. On speed it is not close. 312 knots against 464 knots is a 33 percent deficit, and it compounds with every mile flown.
The practical envelope:
- Under 500 nm — the King Air is competitive on total trip time and clearly cheaper.
- 500 to 900 nm — a jet saves 30 to 60 minutes; whether that is worth the money is a real decision.
- Over 1,000 nm — a jet wins decisively on comfort and time, and the cost advantage shrinks.
The 420-mile door-to-door math, worked out
Take a 420-nautical-mile leg, roughly Teterboro, New Jersey to Detroit. Here is the full arithmetic rather than the usual assertion that turboprops “make sense on short trips.”
Block time. Neither aircraft flies its published cruise speed for the whole leg, because climb and descent eat a short trip. Realistic block averages:
- King Air 350 at about 280 knots block average: 420 ÷ 280 = 1.50 hours, or 90 minutes.
- Phenom 300E at about 400 knots block average: 420 ÷ 400 = 1.05 hours, or 63 minutes.
The jet saves about 27 minutes in the air.
Cost. At market charter rates of roughly $2,300/hr for the King Air and $3,700/hr for the Phenom, the raw flight cost is $3,450 against $3,885. A $435 gap for 27 minutes looks like an easy win for the jet.
Now apply the daily minimum. Nearly every charter operator bills a two-hour daily minimum. Both aircraft fly less than two hours, so both bill two hours:
- King Air 350: 2.0 × $2,300 = $4,600
- Phenom 300E: 2.0 × $3,700 = $7,400
The minimum does not shrink the turboprop’s advantage. It roughly multiplies it, from $435 to $2,800, because the jet can no longer buy back its higher rate with speed. This is the part of turboprop-versus-light-jet comparisons that almost never appears, and it inverts the usual conclusion that speed pays for itself on short legs. It does not, because you are not billed for the hours you saved.
Where this reverses. Stretch the same comparison to 1,200 nm and the picture flips. The King Air takes 4.3 hours, the Phenom takes 3.0 hours, and the cost gap narrows to about $1,200 for 78 extra minutes in a cabin you cannot stand up in. Past roughly 800 nm, the King Air’s economics stop justifying the time penalty for most passengers.
The short-field claim that does not survive checking
You will read constantly that the King Air’s advantage is getting into runways jets cannot use. Against midsize jets, that is true: the Hawker 800XP needs about 5,000 feet at max weight, against 3,300 feet for the King Air.
Against the light jet it actually competes with, the claim collapses. The Phenom 300E’s published takeoff distance is 3,209 feet, which is shorter than the King Air 350’s 3,300 feet. On paved runway length alone, the modern light jet is not the constrained aircraft.
The King Air’s genuine field advantage is narrower and more specific:
- Unimproved surfaces. Turboprops routinely operate from gravel, grass, and dirt strips. Turbofan-powered jets generally cannot, because low-slung engine intakes ingest debris.
- Hot-and-high fields. Turboprop performance degrades more gracefully at altitude and temperature than many light jets.
- Airports with no jet service. Some small fields have fuel, approach, or insurance restrictions that exclude jets entirely.
If your destination is a paved 4,000-foot runway, the runway is not the reason to book a King Air. The hourly rate is.
Cabin and comfort
The King Air 350 cabin is 57 inches tall, 54 inches wide, and 19 feet 6 inches long. At 4 feet 9 inches of height, you cannot stand up. Passengers move down the aisle in a stoop, which is the single biggest complaint on legs over two hours.
Maximum occupancy is 11, but charter configurations usually run 8 to 9 seats in a double-club layout with a belted lavatory. The cabin is the roomiest in the turboprop class by a clear margin, and the 350i and 360 both cut cabin noise materially over the original.
Cruise altitude shapes the ride in two opposite ways. Flying lower keeps cabin altitude low, which suits passengers sensitive to pressurization. Flying lower also means the King Air spends more time inside weather that a jet climbs above, so summer afternoon legs are bumpier than the same route in a light jet.
What a King Air 350 costs
New. The 350i is no longer produced. The current King Air 360 is the replacement, and recent trade reporting puts a new one near $9 million. Textron Aviation does not publish list pricing publicly, so treat any single figure as an estimate rather than a quote.
Charter. Market rates run roughly $2,000 to $2,500 per flight hour in the United States. That is 35 to 45 percent below a light jet and roughly 60 percent below a super-midsize. These are broker market estimates, not manufacturer figures.
Pre-owned. The used King Air market is deep and liquid, which is a real advantage: parts, mechanics, and pilots are available almost everywhere in North America.
Because of that cost gap, the King Air 350 dominates three specific missions: regional corporate shuttles, air ambulance and medevac, and government or survey special-mission work. Those buyers are not choosing it as a cheap jet. They are choosing it because nothing else does the job at the price.
King Air 350 versus the alternatives
| Criterion | King Air 350 | Phenom 300E | Hawker 800XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Twin turboprop | Light jet | Midsize jet |
| Max cruise | 312 ktas | 464 ktas | ~447 ktas |
| Range | 1,806 nm | 2,010 nm | 2,540 nm |
| Cabin height | 4 ft 9 in | 4 ft 11 in | ~5 ft 9 in |
| Takeoff distance | 3,300 ft | 3,209 ft | ~5,000 ft |
| Typical rate | ~$2,000–2,500/hr | ~$3,400–4,000/hr | ~$3,300–3,900/hr |
| Verdict | Cheapest per hour, short legs | Best light-jet all-rounder | Most cabin per dollar |
Choose the King Air 350 for legs under about 600 nm, for unimproved or restricted airfields, and when per-hour cost is the binding constraint. Choose a light jet when the leg runs longer, when weather routing matters, or when arrival time is the point. Choose a midsize jet when you need to stand up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the King Air 350 a jet?
No. The King Air 350 is a twin-engine turboprop powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A engines driving propellers. It appears in private jet comparisons because it competes directly with light jets on regional routes and is one of the most commonly chartered business aircraft in North America.
How fast is a King Air 350?
Maximum cruise speed is 312 knots true airspeed, which is about 359 mph. That is roughly 150 knots slower than a light jet such as the Phenom 300E, a gap that costs you about 27 minutes on a 420-nautical-mile leg and over an hour on a 1,200-nm leg.
What is the range of a King Air 350?
The published range is 1,806 nautical miles, and the extended-range 350ER and 360ER variants reach roughly 2,700 nm. Range is unchanged between the 350, 350i, and current King Air 360.
How much does it cost to charter a King Air 350?
Market charter rates run about $2,000 to $2,500 per flight hour in the United States. Note that most operators bill a two-hour daily minimum, so a 90-minute leg is invoiced as two hours before taxes, repositioning, and landing fees are added.
Is the King Air 350 still in production?
Not under that name. The King Air 350i was replaced in 2020 by the King Air 360, which carries the same 1,806 nm range and 312-knot cruise speed with an updated cockpit, autopilot, and pressurization system. Textron Aviation builds the 360 and 360ER today.
Can a King Air 350 land on a grass or gravel runway?
Yes, with operator approval and the appropriate configuration. This is the King Air's genuine field advantage over jets, whose low-mounted turbofans risk debris ingestion on unimproved surfaces. On paved runways the advantage is smaller than commonly claimed, since a Phenom 300E needs a shorter takeoff distance than the King Air 350 does.
The bottom line
The King Air 350 is the correct aircraft for short regional trips where cost per hour drives the decision, and the two-hour daily minimum makes that advantage larger than the raw hourly rates suggest. On a 420-nm leg it saves roughly $2,800 against a light jet and costs you 27 minutes.
Past about 800 nm the case weakens fast, and past 1,000 nm a light jet is the better buy on comfort and time for a shrinking price gap. The 4-foot-9 cabin is the real limiter, not the speed.
Browse the full aircraft guide to see how turboprops sit against every jet class, or read types of private jets if you are still working out which category fits your trips.
We update this guide as aircraft, program, and route pricing changes. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it.