The question is never “which is cheaper”. It is “at what annual utilisation does the fixed cost stop being wasted”.

What you are actually buying

A fractional share is an ownership interest in a specific aircraft, with a defined annual allocation of hours and a management agreement that covers crew, maintenance, insurance and dispatch. A whole aircraft is all of that, undivided — including all of the fixed cost, whether or not you fly.

The costs that do not care how much you fly

• Crew salaries, training and currency.
• Hangarage and insurance.
• Scheduled inspections driven by calendar, not by hours.
• Depreciation and the residual-value risk that goes with it.

Those are the numbers that make low-utilisation whole ownership expensive per hour flown. A share divides them.

The crossover

Below the crossover, a share carries less fixed cost than you would absorb alone. Above it, the allocation stops being enough and the incremental hours get expensive; that is the point at which whole ownership, usually with a management agreement and a charter revenue programme, starts to win.

Where the crossover sits depends on cabin class, mission profile and how much of the year the aircraft would otherwise sit. The Fractional page sets out current share sizes and allocations; Aircraft Management and Aircraft Partnership cover the whole-aircraft side.