Hawker 700A

At 69.7 in the 700A carries more cabin height than any other midsize aircraft we charter, and it puts 79 cu ft of baggage across eight bags behind it. Headroom and hold are the two specifications passengers notice without being prompted, and this is the aircraft in the class that leads on both at once. What it surrenders is stated plainly in the remaining figures: 2,100 nm and 420 kt are the shortest range and the lowest top speed of the seven. The 700A is not the Hawker for a long sector. It is the Hawker for a full cabin on a short one, and it is unusually good at exactly that.

The cabin measures 256 in long and 71 in wide, seating seven to eight — the same length as the 800XP and the 900XP, in an older airframe than either. Where those two ended up with more range and more pace, the 700A kept the larger compartment, and for charterers whose sectors sit inside a couple of hours that has aged well rather than badly. Eight passengers with real luggage fit this aircraft in a way they do not fit the 800XP. Production ended long ago, and the type trades now on that single combination: the most headroom in the category, and a hold proportioned to the seats in front of it.

Headroom and hold together