Heavy Jet · Ibiza to London

Flying heavy metal out of Ibiza in season is less about the airframe than the slot. LEIB runs tight in July and August, with ground handling under pressure and departure windows that slip as the apron fills. A heavy jet, a Falcon 7X, Global 6000 or Gulfstream G550, earns its place here on cabin and range margin rather than runway need, though the 2,800 metre runway at San José leaves comfortable reserve even on a warm afternoon with a full cabin.

The routing into Farnborough rather than the London airports is deliberate. EGLF holds no slot lottery, clears business aviation cleanly through its own customs and immigration, and puts you on the M3 corridor toward central London or the Surrey belt without the congestion of Luton or the Heathrow flow. The trade is the curfew. Farnborough closes overnight and limits weekend movements, so a late Ibiza departure that drifts past the window gets redirected to Luton or Stansted, and the car plan moves with it. Build the schedule around the field's published hours, not the optimistic ones.

Practical points decide the day. Clear Spanish customs before the aircraft is fueled and catered, since Ibiza handling slows sharply when several departures stack against the same window. Confirm whether the aircraft is positioned on the island or arriving empty from Palma or the mainland, because a ferry leg changes both price and the realistic earliest wheels-up. Allow for headwinds on the northbound track that can add twenty minutes against the southbound time most people remember. Roughly two and a half hours in the air, customs at both ends, and a single firm decision on the arrival field is what separates a clean evening from a scramble. The brokers who run this route well quote the curfew and the positioning honestly up front, rather than after the deposit clears.