Silhouette traced from a photo of the closest sister model, the HondaJet Elite, by ZLEA · CC BY-SA 4.0
Honda Aircraft · Light Jet
HondaJet Echelon (HA-480)
Honda's second jet model, a larger light jet planned to sit above the HondaJet Elite II.
On paper the Echelon outranges every light jet while keeping single-pilot operation. But none has flown, first deliveries have slipped to 2031, and Honda has not published a price, weights or running costs. Treat it as a promise, not a purchase.
Buy it if
You can wait until the next decade, want nonstop coast-to-coast trips with four passengers in a light jet, may fly it yourself, and accept that the specifications could still change.
Skip it if
You need an airplane before 2031, want a proven service record and known operating costs, or fly mostly short trips that a Phenom 300E, CJ4 Gen2 or HondaJet Elite II already handles today.
Biggest compromise
Time and uncertainty. Honda has moved first flight to 2028 and certification and first delivery to 2031, citing supplier delays.
The numbers that matter
How far it flies
2,625 nm
How fast
450 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
8
8 typical, up to 10 passengers
Pilots needed
1
Designed for single-pilot flying; certification is targeted for 2031, so this is a goal.
Price
What one costs to buy
Typical asking price
$0
Other sites
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
Honda has not published a price and no Echelon has been built; first deliveries are targeted for 2031.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
For sale now
None listed right now
The JetGrade
Not yet rated
Peer group: Embraer Phenom 300E, Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen2, Pilatus PC-24
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical
This model hasn't been graded yet.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-09-30.
Where it flies
Sample trips and reach
Typical trips on a map
Nonstop
Depends on weight or weather
6 of 8 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 1.0 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Short hop; projected from Honda targets
- 2.0 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Hot-and-high; depends on weight and weather
- 2.3 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm · Easy international hop; projected from Honda targets
- 2.6 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm · Well within Honda's range target
- 3.3 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm · Well within Honda's range target
- 3.9 hr
Teterboro → San Juan
1,410 nm · Over water; well within Honda's range target
- 5.6 hr
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Nonstop per Honda target; strong headwinds may limit
- 5.9 hr
Los Angeles → Honolulu
2,215 nm · Long overwater leg; depends on winds and load
Lineage
What came before and after
Targeted 2031
HondaJet Echelon (HA-480)
Larger light jet with coast-to-coast range target.
What changed from the HondaJet Elite II
- Williams FJ44-4C engines replace the GE Honda HF120s used on earlier HondaJets.
- Target range rises to 2,625 nm from the Elite II's 1,547 nm.
- Cabin is 4.5 in taller, with 5.5 in more shoulder room and up to 10 seats.
- Autothrottle, autobrakes, Emergency Autoland and runway overrun alerting planned as standard.
- New composite fuselage, built by Spirit AeroSystems, and a new wing.
- Maximum cruise target rises to 450 kt and ceiling to 47,000 ft.
Size and cabin
How big it is, inside and out
Outside
Silhouette · scaled to length
Length
Wingspan
Height
Inside the cabin
Cabin length
Width
Height
Compare
How it stacks up
This aircraft
HondaJet Echelon (HA-480)
- JetGrade
- Not yet graded
- Range
- 2,625 nm
- Speed
- 450 kt
- Seats
- 8
- Years built
- 2028
← Before
Honda Aircraft HondaJet Elite II
- JetGrade
- Not yet graded
- Range
- 1,547 nm
- Speed
- 422 kt
- Seats
- 4
- Years built
- 2022
Alternative
- JetGrade
- Not yet graded
- Price
- $13.53M
- Range
- 2,010 nm
- Speed
- 464 kt
- Seats
- 6
- Years built
- 2018
Alternative
Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen2 (525C)
- JetGrade
- Not yet graded
- Price
- $12.65M
- Range
- 2,165 nm
- Speed
- 451 kt
- Seats
- 6
- Years built
- 2021
- Embraer Phenom 300E instead: The light-jet benchmark you can buy today: about 2,010 nm range, 464 kt cruise, single-pilot capable and widely supported.
- Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen2 instead: Single-pilot, about 2,165 nm and 451 kt, with strong resale values and Textron's large service network, available now.
- HondaJet Elite II instead: Honda's current jet: smaller cabin and about 1,547 nm range, but it flies today and keeps you in Honda's network.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
2 × Williams International FJ44-4C
Williams sells hourly maintenance plans for its FJ44 engine family; Echelon plan terms have not been announced.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 7 checked
Honda Aircraft will build the Echelon at its Greensboro, North Carolina headquarters. Service, warranty and engine plan details have not been announced.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- Honda targets 2,625 nm with one pilot, four passengers and reserves: nonstop New York to Los Angeles, even westbound.
- Cabin is 25 ft 5 in long and about 5 ft 2 in tall, with seats for up to 10 passengers.
- Planned 6,363 ft cabin altitude at 47,000 ft, plus Emergency Autoland, autothrottle and autobrakes as standard.
Limitations
- No Echelon has flown; first flight is targeted for 2028 and first delivery for 2031.
- Price, weights, fuel burn and full-fuel payload are unpublished, so real mission capability cannot yet be checked.
- Honda reports more than 530 letters of intent, but they are non-binding and resale value is years from known.
The HondaJet Echelon is Honda Aircraft's second jet, a larger sibling to the HondaJet Elite II rather than a replacement for it. Honda first showed the design as the HondaJet 2600 concept in 2021, committed to building it in 2023 and named it Echelon that October. It keeps the HondaJet's signature engines mounted above the wings but grows into the light-jet class, carrying up to 11 people: one pilot and 10 passengers, or two pilots and nine.
Pilot's take
From the cockpit the Echelon reads like a HondaJet grown up: the same Garmin G3000 family, over-wing engines that keep the cabin quiet, and a planned shared type rating that should make the move up simple for current HondaJet pilots. The safety package is strong, with Emergency Autoland, autothrottle, autobrakes and runway overrun alerting planned from the start. The questions we would want answered are practical ones: climb performance to 47,000 ft at heavy weight, real fuel burn per hour, and takeoff distance at high-elevation airports. Until flight testing produces those numbers, plan around Honda's targets with a healthy margin.
Who this is for
Owners and small flight departments planning for the early 2030s who carry two to four people on long domestic legs, want a quiet, tall light-jet cabin, and like the option of flying single-pilot.
Ask about this aircraft
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