What an FBO is, and what happens in one

The building you never see from the motorway

Every airport that handles business aviation has at least one FBO, and most passengers who have never chartered have never noticed it. It sits away from the main terminal, usually on the general-aviation side of the field, with its own road access, its own car park and its own apron. The point of it is that the airport experience — queues, gates, boarding groups — does not happen.

The name is an accident of history. In the 1920s, American airfields distinguished companies with a fixed base from barnstormers who moved on, and the label stuck. Functionally, an FBO today is the handling agent for private aircraft: it fuels and parks them, looks after their crews, and receives and dispatches their passengers.

What actually happens, in order

The sequence below is typical for a European departure. Times are indicative; the operator sets the exact arrival time for your flight and it depends on the destination.

Arrival is the mirror image and faster still: the aircraft parks at the FBO's apron, you step off, luggage follows, and immigration for an inbound international flight happens in the building. On a domestic or intra-Schengen arrival you can be in the car within five minutes of the door opening.

What the FBO provides

• Passenger handling. Lounge, reception, identity and document checks, coordination with customs and immigration.
• Aircraft handling. Marshalling, parking, fuel, ground power, cleaning, catering delivery, de-icing in winter.
• Crew services. Flight planning rooms, rest facilities, transport. A well-rested crew is a safety item, not a comfort one.
• Ground transport. Most FBOs will bring a car to the aircraft steps on request. This is where the concierge side of a charter starts.

In the Netherlands

Schiphol's General Aviation Terminal is on the east side of the airport, separate from the passenger terminals, with its own access road. It handles the bulk of the country's business aviation and is the default for short-notice flights because so many aircraft are already there. Rotterdam The Hague is served by Jet Aviation, with a single runway and a much shorter path from car to cabin. The Schiphol-or-Rotterdam question is in practice a question about which of these two buildings you would rather walk through.

What it costs

The FBO is paid for through a handling fee, charged per movement and set by the FBO and the airport. It sits in an all-in quote alongside landing fees and parking, and it is higher at a major hub than at a regional field — one of several reasons a smaller airport can be cheaper for the same aircraft. It is a normal cost of the trip and it should be visible in the quote. Our cost guide lists it with the other items that sit on top of the hourly rate.

What to bring, and what not to worry about

Bring the passport or ID card used on the manifest — the name must match. Bring your luggage in whatever form; there is no bag-drop and no size gauge, only the aircraft's own limits. Do not arrive an hour early; there is nothing to do with the hour and the crew will not be ready. Do not worry about finding the aircraft, the gate or the right door. Someone walks you to all of them.

The FBO is the part of a charter that most surprises first-time passengers, because it is where the time saving actually happens. The flight is the same length in a chartered jet as it would be in the front of an airliner. The two hours you do not spend in a terminal are the product. Request a quote and the FBO details for your departure come with the confirmation.