Routes
Private Jet to Nantucket: Airport Reality, Cost, and Timing
Why the ramp fills up before the runway ever does
A private jet to Nantucket means a short flight into a crowded airport. Every route guide on this site focuses on the constraint that truly shapes the trip. Here, it’s ramp space during the ten weeks of summer.
The runway can handle almost any jet flying into Nantucket. The problem is finding room on the ramp once July arrives.
Search volume for this route is small. Nantucket is a niche, seasonal market centered on a wealthy enclave, not a year-round destination like Miami or Las Vegas. That makes the airport details below especially important. Few guides take the time to verify them, while many of the people flying this route return every summer.
Nantucket Memorial Airport at a Glance
Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK) is the only airport on the island, and it is also the only airport in the country where general aviation traffic can run nearly twenty times higher in July than in January on the same two runways.
| Detail | Published figure |
|---|---|
| Longest runway (6/24) | 6,303 ft x 150 ft |
| Second runway (15/33) | 4,500 ft x 100 ft |
| Elevation | 47 ft |
| Fuel | 100LL and Jet-A |
| FBO | Airport-operated, no separate private FBO |
| Landing fee, GA/charter, under 6,000 lbs | $8.00 per landing |
| Landing fee, over 6,000 lbs | $48.00 + $3.93 per 1,000 lbs over 6,000 |
| Ramp fee (per turn, 24-hour max), 25,001-50,000 lbs | $396.00 |
| Ramp fee (per turn, 24-hour max), over 100,001 lbs | $1,158.00 |
| Wingspan limit on Taxiway F | 79 ft |
Runway and fee figures come from the Nantucket Memorial Airport Commission’s own 2026 rates and charges schedule and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s airport data, cross-checked against AirNav. The FAA permanently closed the airport’s old crosswind runway, 12/30, in 2022, which is why only two runways remain today.
The 6,303-foot main runway takes a light jet, a midsize jet, or a super-midsize jet without drama. Large-cabin jets fly in too, and a Falcon 900B or a Hawker 800XP fits comfortably.
You will not see much of the ultra-long-range category here. Taxiway F, between Taxiways B and H, is closed by FAA record to any aircraft with a wingspan over 79 feet, which rules out routine access for a Gulfstream G650 even though the runway itself could physically handle one. If your aircraft is in the ultra-long-range class, ask your operator to confirm the specific taxi routing before you assume Nantucket is a drop-in stop.
Why the Ramp Fills Up Before the Runway Does
Nantucket’s own operations data settles the question of how seasonal this airport really is. General aviation traffic on the airport’s Southwest Ramp, the ramp private charter and owner-flown aircraft use, ran between 6,400 and 6,600 operations in July and August of 2024 and 2025. In January and February of those same years, it dropped under 400 operations a month.
That is close to an eighteen-fold swing on the same stretch of pavement. It comes straight from the airport’s own reported figures, with no estimate involved.
The Fourth of July weekend shows what that swing looks like on the ground. Over July 1 to July 6, 2026, the airport logged 2,421 total aircraft operations and pumped 169,621 gallons of jet fuel, both up from the year before. The busiest single day, July 5, saw 567 operations.
That volume is not itself the constraint. Airport management has said directly that aircraft size drives the pressure more than aircraft count does. More large-cabin jets means more ramp footprint and more jet fuel burned per visit, and Nantucket’s ramp and fuel farm were sized for a lighter fleet than the one showing up now.
The clearest example came in 2023, when the transient ramp closed to any aircraft with a wingspan over 79 feet for three days over a summer weekend, limiting large jets to a 30-minute drop-and-go, and jet fuel sales to non-tenant aircraft were capped at 300 gallons a day. The airport pointed arriving pilots to Martha’s Vineyard, New Bedford, and Barnstable as overflow options while the restriction was in effect. For 2026’s Fourth of July, the airport avoided a repeat by renting extra fuel trucks ahead of the weekend, and no rationing was needed.
The lesson is not that this specific restriction will recur on your date. It is that Nantucket runs close enough to its ramp and fuel limits every peak weekend that the airport has had to intervene before, and an operator flying here regularly plans around that possibility rather than being surprised by it.
The Overflow Airports When ACK Fills Up
None of these fields put you on the island. Each one adds a ferry or a short connecting hop, which is the real cost of using them.
| Airport | Runway | Distance from Nantucket | Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nantucket Memorial (ACK) | 6,303 ft | On the island | None |
| Barnstable / Hyannis (HYA) | 5,425 ft | Across Nantucket Sound | Hy-Line Cruises fast ferry, about 1 hour |
| Martha’s Vineyard (MVY) | 5,504 ft | Across the sound, west of Nantucket | Seasonal inter-island ferry or a short Cape Air hop |
Hyannis is the practical fallback because the fast ferry runs close to hourly in summer and gets you to downtown Nantucket faster than most people expect. Martha’s Vineyard works if your trip already includes both islands, but the inter-island ferry only runs seasonally and less frequently than the Hyannis boat.
What a Private Jet to Nantucket Costs
Charter bills the aircraft’s total time in the air and on the ground, so a short hop still carries a meaningful invoice. Two worked examples show how the math runs on this route.
Day trip, Boston to Nantucket, light jet, four passengers. The aircraft is based at Boston, so there is no positioning leg. Flight time each way is about 30 minutes, for 1 hour total in the air. Most operators apply a daily minimum of 2 hours, so you pay for 2 hours regardless. At $3,200 an hour for a light jet like the Phenom 300, that is $6,400 of aircraft time. Add the ACK landing fee for a roughly 15,000-lb light jet (about $83 each way, so $166 round trip), a ramp fee of $129 per turn, and $250 for catering. Call it $6,945 all in, before federal excise tax and the domestic segment tax.
Weekend trip, Teterboro to Nantucket, midsize jet, six passengers, one overnight. Flight time is roughly 50 minutes each way, or 1 hour 40 minutes total, well under the typical 2.5-hour daily minimum for a midsize jet on this size of trip. At $4,500 an hour for a midsize aircraft like the Hawker 800XP, the flying alone runs 2.5 hours x $4,500 = $11,250. Add the ACK landing fee for an 18,000-lb aircraft (about $95 each way, $190 round trip), a ramp fee of $200 per turn, an overnight remain-overnight fee of roughly $130 under common-use parking, and $400 for catering both ways. Call it $12,170 all in, before taxes.
The overnight fee line is the main difference from a same-day hop. If the ramp is tight on your date, the airport can assign your aircraft to common-use parking instead of a preferential spot, which costs more and is not guaranteed in advance. Ask your operator to confirm parking status before you commit to an overnight stay in peak season.
Why Peak-Season Pricing Runs Higher Here Than the Tariff Suggests
The airport’s own landing and ramp fees are a flat, published schedule that does not change by season. Everything around that schedule changes instead. Charter brokers routinely apply peak-date surcharges for the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends, because the aircraft they would otherwise sell to a Nantucket trip could fly two or three other trips in the same window.
Repositioning also gets more expensive: an aircraft that has to fly in from Boston or Westchester because every Nantucket-based option is already booked bills that leg at full rate, both ways. None of that shows up in the airport’s tariff. All of it shows up in your quote.
Realistic Flight Times to Nantucket
These are estimates for a direct routing with calm weather. Add 15 to 20 minutes for any holding pattern into ACK during a peak summer weekend.
- Boston to Nantucket: about 30 minutes, light jet
- Teterboro or the New York area to Nantucket: 45 minutes to 1 hour, light jet
- Washington, DC area to Nantucket: 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes, midsize jet
- Philadelphia to Nantucket: about 1 hour 15 minutes, light jet
Season and Booking Lead Time
Nantucket compresses almost its entire flying year into 14 weeks. Memorial Day through Labor Day is the season that matters, and inside that window, the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends are their own category of tight. May’s Figawi sailing-race weekend adds a smaller, earlier peak that regular visitors already plan around.
Book a July or August weekend six to eight weeks out if you want a real choice of aircraft and a preferential parking spot rather than whatever is left. For the Fourth of July or Labor Day specifically, push that further out. Waiting until the week of means choosing from whatever tail is still available, if anything is, and it means accepting common-use parking on arrival rather than a guaranteed spot.
This is a different booking calendar than most of the leisure routes we cover. A trip to Miami or Las Vegas has year-round demand and multiple airports absorbing the load, so a week’s notice is often fine.
Nantucket has one runway system, one FBO, and a demand curve that goes almost vertical for ten weeks. Treat it like a holiday-week booking even when the calendar says midsummer.
Who Nantucket Charter Is Not a Good Fit For
If your dates are fixed to a specific summer weekend and you are booking inside two weeks, Nantucket charter carries a genuine risk. It is not a minor inconvenience you can shrug off. Availability can simply run out, and a same-day cancellation from another operator’s aircraft is not something you can plan a trip around.
A flexible traveler willing to shift a day earlier or later, or to fly into Hyannis and take the ferry, has a far easier time than someone locked to a Saturday-to-Saturday Fourth of July trip decided in June.
What would change this answer: a genuine second FBO with independent ramp capacity, or a public commitment from the airport to expand transient parking beyond the current footprint. Neither exists today. The seasonal scarcity here is structural, and no single good season will fix it.
Booking a Private Jet to Nantucket: The Verdict
Book earlier than the calendar tells you to, confirm parking status before an overnight stay, and do not assume a very large jet will taxi in without checking the wingspan restriction first. Nantucket rewards the buyer who plans around scarcity and punishes the one who treats it like any other short domestic hop. For the mechanics of chartering itself, see our guide to chartering a private jet.
Ask three questions before you sign a quote for a private jet to Nantucket. Is the aircraft already based near the island or does it have to reposition, what is the daily minimum on this specific trip length, and is your parking assignment preferential or common-use. Compare this route against other Northeast summer options in our route guides, including the Hamptons, or look at the fuller private jet charter cost breakdown for what a quote should show line by line.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the runway at Nantucket Memorial Airport?
The main runway, 6/24, is 6,303 feet long and 150 feet wide. A second, shorter runway, 15/33, runs 4,500 feet. Both are published by the Nantucket Memorial Airport Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration. The airport's third runway, 12/30, was permanently closed by the FAA in 2022.
Can a large private jet land at Nantucket?
Large-cabin jets like the Falcon 900B fly into Nantucket routinely. The runway itself could handle bigger aircraft too. The real limit is a taxiway restriction: Taxiway F is closed by FAA record to aircraft with a wingspan over 79 feet, which affects routine access for an ultra-long-range type like the Gulfstream G650. Confirm the taxi routing with your operator before booking one of those aircraft into Nantucket.
Why does Nantucket get so congested in the summer?
The airport's own general aviation operations data show close to an eighteen-fold jump from winter months to July and August on the Southwest Ramp, the ramp private jets use. The pressure comes from aircraft size more than aircraft count, according to airport management, since larger jets use more ramp space and more jet fuel per visit. The airport has restricted large-aircraft ramp access and capped fuel sales during past Fourth of July weekends when demand outran capacity.
How much does a private jet to Nantucket cost?
A day trip from Boston in a light jet runs roughly $6,900 to $7,500 all in, including landing and ramp fees but before federal taxes. A weekend trip from the New York area in a midsize jet with an overnight runs closer to $12,000 to $13,000. Peak-weekend surcharges and repositioning costs from a broker can push either figure meaningfully higher around the Fourth of July or Labor Day.
How far ahead should I book a private jet to Nantucket?
Book a summer weekend six to eight weeks ahead for a real choice of aircraft and a guaranteed parking spot. Push further out for the Fourth of July or Labor Day weekends specifically, since those are the two dates most likely to sell out entirely. Inside two weeks of a peak weekend, expect a limited aircraft choice and common-use rather than preferential parking.
Is there an alternative airport if Nantucket is full?
Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis and Martha's Vineyard Airport both serve as overflow options, though neither puts you on the island directly. Hyannis connects to Nantucket by a fast ferry that runs close to hourly in summer, roughly an hour each way. Martha's Vineyard connects by a seasonal inter-island ferry or a short Cape Air flight.
We update this guide as aircraft, program, and route pricing changes. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it.