The image of a billionaire hopping on a private jet in New York and waking up in London is common, but whether the aircraft can actually make the trip nonstop depends entirely on its size and fuel capacity.

Ultra-Long-Range Heavy Jets

At the top of the market are flagship jets like the Gulfstream G650ER or the Bombardier Global 7500. These aircraft are essentially miniature commercial airliners, boasting ranges of 7,500 nautical miles or more. They can easily fly nonstop from New York to London, or even Los Angeles to Tokyo. Because they cruise higher (up to 51,000 feet) and faster (Mach 0.90) than commercial airliners, they can often fly above the Jet Stream's core, completing crossings faster than scheduled commercial flights.

The "Northern Route" for Light Jets

Smaller jets, like the incredibly popular Cessna Citation XLS or Embraer Phenom 300, have ranges between 1,800 and 2,100 nautical miles. They cannot cross the Atlantic nonstop.

Instead, they follow the Northern Route: flying from the US East Coast to Goose Bay (Canada), taking a hop to Narsarsuaq (Greenland), jumping to Keflavik (Iceland), and finally down to Europe. This chain of tech stops keeps the aircraft within reach of a runway at all times, making transatlantic travel accessible to smaller airframes, provided you have the time for the refueling pauses.