From the existing guide library. Pricing, loan examples and source dates may be historical. Use current written quotes for your purchase. The worksheets use the shared calculation method.

The True Operating Cost of Beechcraft King Air 350

The Beechcraft King Air 350 is the gold-standard twin-engine turboprop offering 13-seat capacity, 35,000-foot altitude, and industry-leading reliability. Plan for $95,000–$120,000 annually in operating costs at 100 flight hours, or $950–$1,200 per hour. The King Air 350 dominates the twin-turboprop market with unmatched payload, range, and multi-engine safety. Perfect for charter, corporate, special operations, and commercial missions.

Quick Specs: Beechcraft King Air 350i

Specification King Air 350i
Engines 2 × Pratt & Whitney PT6A-60A (1,000 shp each)
Fuel Burn 55–70 gal/hr cruise
Cruise Speed 260–290 mph
Service Ceiling 35,000 ft
Useful Load 4,800–5,200 lbs
Seats 13 (high-density to luxury)
Range 2,200–2,700 nm

TL;DR: King Air 350 Annual Operating Cost Summary

  • Fixed costs: $40,000–$52,000/year (insurance $9,000–$14,000, hangar $10,000–$12,000, annuals $6,000–$8,000, turboprop systems)
  • Variable costs at 100 hours: $55,000–$68,000/year (Jet-A fuel, oils, engine reserves)
  • Total at 100 hours: $95,000–$120,000/year (~$950–$1,200/hour)
  • Finance a $1,000,000 King Air 350: Add $14,700/month ($176,400/year) at 6.5% over 10 years
  • At 50 hours: ~$77,500–$96,000/year (~$1,550–$1,920/hour)
  • At 200 hours: ~$150,000–$188,000/year (~$750–$940/hour)

Twin-Engine Turboprop Operating Costs

Fixed Costs

  • Insurance: $9,000–$14,000/year for $1,500,000–$1,800,000 hull with 500+ pilot hours
  • Hangar: $10,000–$12,000/year (twin-turboprop climate-controlled facility)
  • Annual inspection: $6,000–$8,000 labor (turboprop complexity)
  • Condition monitoring: $2,500–$4,000/year

Variable Costs (per flight hour)

  • Jet-A fuel: 62 gal/hr × $5.50/gal = ~$341/hour
  • Oil and hydraulic fluid: $10–$14/hour
  • Engine reserves: $13–$17/hour ($55K per engine ÷ 3,500 TBO × 2)
  • Prop maintenance: $15–$20/hour
  • Turboprop maintenance: $75–$95/hour (gearbox, governors, fuel systems)
  • Landing fees: $30–$75/landing

Jet-A Fuel & Operating Economics

Fuel Cost by Hours

Annual Hours Gallons Jet-A Cost @ $5.50/gal $/Hour
50 3,100 $17,050 $341
100 6,200 $34,100 $341
150 9,300 $51,150 $341
200 12,400 $68,200 $341

Maintenance & Turboprop Engines

Pratt & Whitney PT6A-60A

  • PT6A-60A: 3,500 hours TBO (industry-leading reliability)
  • Overhaul cost: $55,000–$65,000 per engine
  • Combined reserve: $120,000 ÷ 3,500 = $34/hour
  • Parts availability: Worldwide support network

Turboprop-Specific Maintenance

  • Fuel heater maintenance: $600–$1,000/year
  • Propeller governor overhauls: $3,000–$4,000 each
  • Gearbox inspections: $1,000–$1,500/year
  • Condition monitoring trending: $2,000–$3,000/year
  • Budget: $80–$100/hour for all maintenance

Insurance & Storage

Turboprop Insurance

  • $1,500,000 hull, 500+ hours, turboprop typed: $10,000–$12,000/year
  • $1,800,000 hull, 100–250 hours: $13,000–$16,000/year
  • Commercial/charter: +40–60% premium

Storage Costs

Option Monthly Annual
Climate-Controlled Hangar $800–$1,000 $9,600–$12,000
Standard Hangar $650–$850 $7,800–$10,200

Annual Ownership Scenarios

Operating Cost (Not Financed)

Hours/Year Fixed Variable Total $/Hour
50 $46,000 $31,500 $77,500 $1,550
100 $46,000 $63,000 $109,000 $1,090
200 $46,000 $126,000 $172,000 $860

Total Cost of Ownership (With Financing)

Assume $1,000,000 King Air 350, 6.5% APR, 10 years = $176,400/year debt service.

Hours/Year Operating Finance Total $/Hour
100 $109,000 $176,400 $285,400 $2,854
200 $172,000 $176,400 $348,400 $1,742

Financing the King Air 350

  • Purchase price: $800,000–$1,400,000 (depends on year, avionics, hours)
  • Down payment: 15–20%
  • Loan amount: $750,000–$1,200,000
  • Term: 10–15 years
  • APR: 5.75–7.0% (2025)
  • Monthly payment: $11,000–$18,500

Lender Requirements: 650+ credit, commercial/ATP rated, $500,000+ annual income, comprehensive business plan, hull insurance $1.5M+. Lenders like JakenAviation specialize in King Air 350 financing for charter and special operations.

King Air 350 vs. Competitors

  • vs. King Air 250: 350 faster and higher-capacity; 250 more economical (~$25K/year savings)
  • vs. Cessna Grand Caravan: Grand Caravan single-turboprop; King Air 350 twin-engine safety and payload
  • vs. Daher TBM 900: TBM 900 single-turboprop; King Air 350 twin-engine with multi-engine safety advantage

Get prequalified for twin-turboprop aircraft financing »

Sources: Beechcraft King Air Specs | AOPA Owner Reports | FAA TCDS

Operating-cost worksheet

Defaults are round assumptions, not a shop quote. AOPA’s worksheet splits fixed costs (insurance, hangar, the annual), direct costs (fuel and maintenance), and a reserve (overhaul cost divided by hours to TBO). Their old teaching example used half the hourly fuel bill as a maintenance starting point. Type your own gph and prices.

Stop dividing one year’s costs by too few hours

The expensive mistake on a King Air 350 is to take insurance, hangar, and an annual, divide by 80 or 100 hours, and call the result the cost of flying. Those bills arrive if you fly or not. AOPA’s operating-cost worksheet treats them as fixed costs, then adds direct costs that do move with hours: fuel, oil, and maintenance. A reserve for the engine or propeller is a third bucket, optional in their sheet and not optional in real life if you intend to keep the aircraft through an overhaul. The worksheet on this page follows that split. Any annual dollar range printed higher up on this page, if it does not cite an invoice or AOPA, is an illustration. Do not repeat it as a quote.

Fuel is a multiplication, not a rumor

AOPA’s instruction is price per gallon times gallons per hour. The gallons per hour belong to the way you actually fly the King Air 350, not to the brochure cruise at the most flattering altitude. Oil is the same idea: price per quart times quarts per hour. Type both into the worksheet. If you do not know burn, leave a conservative guess and replace it after five tanks of your own notes. A blog’s “cost per hour” that hides the burn and the fuel price is not usable, because you cannot tell which assumption broke.

The maintenance starting point AOPA actually published

For a first pass, AOPA equates routine engine and airframe maintenance, on an hourly basis, to about half the hourly fuel and oil bill, and says to adjust it once you have your own invoices. The checkbox on the worksheet does that and nothing fancier. Turn it off and type a maintenance figure when you have one. A separate AOPA line for avionics is 5 percent of the avionics’ replacement value per 500 hours. That is a starting point from their sheet, not a prediction that your King Air 350 panel will fail on schedule. Unsupported radios cost more than that formula, because the fix is often a replacement, not a repair.

Sources