A 1992 Astra SP in Hapag-Lloyd colors, showing the low swept wing and tail-mounted engines. · Photo by Pedro Aragão, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
IAI · Midsize Jet
IAI Astra SP
The second version of the Astra midsize jet, between the original 1986 Astra and the winglet-equipped Astra SPX.
The Astra SP is one of the cheapest ways into a jet with true coast-to-coast range and near Mach 0.8 speed. You pay for it with a narrow cabin, long runway needs, a small fleet and an aging 1990 cockpit.
Buy it if
You want about 2,700 nm of range and 460-knot speed for under $1.3 million, usually fly two to five people from runways of 6,500 ft or more, and have a crew and shop that know the type.
Skip it if
Your passengers want to stand up or spread out, you fly from short or high-altitude runways, or you want a widely supported jet with a modern cockpit and an easy resale.
Biggest compromise
The cabin is only 4 ft 9 in wide, narrower than a Citation III or Hawker 800, so it feels like a long light jet. The wing that makes it fast also needs about 6,300 ft of runway at full weight, which rules out full-fuel departures from many smaller airports.
The numbers that matter
Purchase price
$550K–$1.3M
guide value (Business Jet Traveler (Conklin & de Decker data))
What it costs per year
$1.47M
at 300 hrs · two professional pilots
How far it flies
2,780 nm
2,330–2,780 nm with passengers
How fast
462 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
7
7 typical (6–8 by interior, 9 max)
Pilots needed
2
Always flown by two pilots; the captain needs the IA-1125 type rating shared with the Astra SPX.
Price
What one costs to buy
Guide value
$550K–$1.3M
Other sites
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
Two of four listings show prices, $845,000 and $1.295M. Published guides run $550,000 to $1.3M; Aircraft Bluebook puts typical value near $800,000.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
IAI Astra SP · This aircraft
$550K–$1.3M guide
Guide value, not a listed asking price.
Sits between the Astra 1125 and the Hawker 800 (BAe 125-800).
For sale now
None listed right now
Cost to own
What it costs per year to run
300hours / year
Per year
Per flight hour
Estimate — your operator will quote actual numbers.
Fuel, airframe maintenance, engine program or overhaul reserve and landing fees, crew travel, catering, misc. rise as you fly more. Two professional pilots, recurrent training, two pilots, hangar, insurance and databases, charts and subscriptions stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
- Two professional pilots$285,00019%
- Recurrent training, two pilots$57,5004%
- Hangar$65,0004%
- Insurance$47,5003%
- Databases, charts and subscriptions$20,0001%
- Fuel$583,40740%
- Airframe maintenance$210,00014%
- Engine program or overhaul reserve$138,0009%
- Landing fees, crew travel, catering, misc.$60,0004%
Fuel is the biggest single cost at 40% of the total.
The JetGrade
65 out of 100 — Below its class average
Peer group: Cessna Citation III, Cessna Citation VI, Hawker 800, Learjet 55C, IAI Astra 1125
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on range & payload, weakest on airport access.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-10-28.
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
- 0.8 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Short hop; light fuel suits Carlsbad's short runway
- 1.7 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Aspen's altitude and terrain limit weight and weather
- 2.0 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm
- 2.3 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm
- 2.9 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm
- 3.4 hr
Teterboro → San Juan
1,410 nm · Over water; well within range
- 5.1 hr
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Carlsbad's runway limits full-fuel departures
- 5.3 hr
Los Angeles → Honolulu
2,215 nm · Ocean crossing; strong headwinds can force a stop
Lineage
What came before and after
1990–1995
IAI Astra SP
Glass cockpit, digital autopilot, new interior and small aerodynamic gains.
What changed from the IAI Astra 1125
- Collins five-screen EFIS-86 glass displays and APS-85 digital autopilot replaced the original instruments.
- Redesigned interior with forward galley and full-width aft lavatory.
- Aerodynamic refinements added roughly 60 nm of range and allowed takeoffs without flaps.
- Maximum weight for climbing out of hot, high airports rose by about 400 lb.
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
IAI Astra SP
- JetGrade
- 65
- Price
- $550K–$1.3M guide
- Cost per year
- $1.47M
- Range
- 2,780 nm
- Speed
- 462 kt
- Seats
- 7
- Cabin length
- 17′ 1″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 1990–1995
← Before
- JetGrade
- 68
- Price
- $853K–$853K guide
- Cost per year
- $1.32M
- Range
- 2,755 nm
- Speed
- 465 kt
- Seats
- 6
- Cabin length
- 17′ 1″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 1985–1989
After →
- JetGrade
- 68
- Cost per year
- $1.5M
- Range
- 2,950 nm
- Speed
- 470 kt
- Seats
- 7
- Cabin length
- 17′ 1″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 1996–2001
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 74
- Price
- $1.27M
- Cost per year
- $1.65M
- Range
- 2,555 nm
- Speed
- 442 kt
- Seats
- 8
- Cabin length
- 21′ 4″
- Pilots
- 2
- Years built
- 1984–1995
Alternative
- JetGrade
- Not yet graded
- Range
- 1,900 nm
- Speed
- 450 kt
- Seats
- 8
- Years built
- 1991–1995
- Hawker 800 instead: A wider, taller cabin you can almost stand in, and a far larger fleet and parts network, at the cost of more fuel and a little speed.
- Cessna Citation VI instead: A wider cabin, shorter runway needs and Cessna's large service network, but less range and speed.
- IAI Astra SPX instead: The same cabin with stronger engines, winglets, a newer Collins cockpit and better hot-day climb, for a higher price.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
2 × Honeywell TFE731-3C-200G (some aircraft keep the earlier -3A-200G) · 3,700 lbf each
No APUEngine hours until overhaul
- A check · 250 hr
- B check · 500 hr
- C check · 1,000 hr
- Brake fuse test · 1,000 hr
- Fuel pump inspection · 2,000 hr
- Engine mid-life inspection · 2,100 hr
- Engine overhaul · 4,200 hr
- Structural inspection · 10,000 hr
Several Astra SPs for sale carry no engine program or only Honeywell's repair-only plan, which leaves both 4,200-hour overhauls to the owner.
Known issues
Engine overhaul exposure
Many SPs for sale lack full engine coverage, so overhauls on both engines can cost a large share of the purchase price.
Aging glass cockpit
The original tube-type displays and autopilot date from 1990, and upgrades rely on one-off approvals rather than a factory program.
Fuel pump and line chafing
Inspections have found chafed fuel pumps and lines; factory-made replacement parts have taken several weeks.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 8 checked
Gulfstream holds the type certificate and independent shops maintain the fleet, but with fewer than 50 built, some parts must be specially made and can take weeks to arrive.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- About 2,780 nm of range with NBAA IFR reserves, enough for most coast-to-coast trips without a stop.
- High-speed cruise around 460 knots, among the fastest midsize jets of its era.
- Asking prices of about $845,000 to $1.3 million make it one of the cheapest coast-to-coast jets for sale.
Limitations
- Cabin just 4 ft 9 in wide and about 5 ft 7 in tall, so passengers cannot stand upright.
- Needs about 6,300 ft of runway at full weight, and far more at hot, high airports.
- Fewer than 50 were built, so parts can be slow and buyers are scarce when you sell.
The Astra SP is the 1990–1995 version of Israel Aircraft Industries' Model 1125 Astra, the swept-wing midsize jet that grew out of the Westwind and later became the Gulfstream G100 and G150. IAI built it to fix the original Astra's weak spots. It added a Collins five-screen glass cockpit and digital autopilot, a new interior with a forward galley and a full-width washroom at the back, and aerodynamic tweaks worth roughly 60 nm of extra range. Fewer than 50 were built before the winglet-equipped Astra SPX took over in 1996.
Pilot's take
We see the Astra as the sports car of legacy midsize jets: a small, heavily loaded swept wing that is fast and efficient up high but rewards precise speed control on approach and needs plenty of runway. The SP's Collins glass displays and APS-85 autopilot were a real step up from the original Astra, though they feel dated next to modern flat screens, and most surviving airplanes now carry a Universal FMS, TCAS and ADS-B. Run the performance numbers carefully on hot days and short runways, keep terrain databases current, and crew it with pilots who have real time in type.
Who this is for
An owner or small company flying two to five people on long US trips who values range and speed per dollar over cabin space, with experienced pilots and a maintenance shop that knows Astras.
Ask about this aircraft
Answers come only from our research file on the Astra SP.
Your earlier questionsOwners
Private to verified ownersOwn a IAI IAI Astra SP? Verify with its FAA registration to join the owners' thread and the real-cost poll.