The Route
Charter Flights from Miami to Key West
Key West is the last island of the Florida Keys, about 114 nautical miles southwest of downtown Miami, and nearly all of it is water. Every aircraft we fly lands on the island itself, so the choice is not whether you can get there, it is which way suits your party, your bags and the part of the island you want to start the day on. A family with bags, a couple going for lunch and friends heading to a boat will not pick the same one, and that is fine.
Charter flights from Miami to Key West are private: the whole aircraft is yours and nobody else is on board. You name the hour, we set the aircraft, the crew, the field it leaves from and the car at the other end. Your party brings a bag, per the baggage guidance.
Four aircraft fly this route and each has its own page: a seaplane onto the water beside the island, a small plane to Key West International, a helicopter that skips the drive and a private jet. The choice right below this block shows you the difference in one look, and if you are still unsure, ask us: we quote them side by side for your date.
Plan Your Key West Charter
Choose Your Aircraft
Flights to Key West: Seaplane, Small Plane, Helicopter or Private Jet
Your island escape starts with the flight. You can choose between several aircraft for a private journey to Key West with breathtaking ocean views. Tell us your travel dates, group size and what you’re bringing. We’ll help you find the perfect aircraft for your needs and preferences.
Seaplane
Fly privately to Key West by seaplane with exclusive water landings and direct waterfront access.
Small Plane
Fly privately to Key West on aircraft such as the Cessna Grand Caravan, Piper Aztec or Piper Navajo.
Helicopter
Fly privately to Key West on helicopters such as the Bell 407, Agusta 109 or Sikorsky S-76.
Private Jet
Fly privately to Key West on Light Jet, Mid Jet or Super Mid Jet aircraft.
How It Works
How Private Charter Flights from Miami to Key West Work
Private charter flights from Miami follow the same six steps, whatever the aircraft. Here is what every one of them includes, from the first message to the moment you are on the island.
Plan Your Key West CharterDistance and Aircraft
One Hundred Fourteen Nautical Miles and Four Ways to Fly Them
Miami to Key West is about 114 nautical miles, nearly all of it water: Biscayne Bay first, then the whole chain of the Keys with Florida Bay on one side and the reef line on the other.
By road it is three to four hours each way. How long it takes in the air depends on the aircraft: the seaplane is a little under an hour, the others come back with the quote. Either way the flight is the short part of the day.
The Whole Aircraft
One Party on Board and No Seats Sold
Every flight on this page is a charter, so the cabin is yours and the departure time is the one you give us. That is the difference to a scheduled seat, and it holds for all four aircraft. A larger party simply flies a larger aircraft or a second one, and the party still travels on one booking.
Where Each One Lands
Water Beside the Island for Floats, a Runway for Wheels
A seaplane comes down on the water beside Key West or on the runway, agreed for your date. A small plane and a jet land at Key West International at the eastern end, under four miles from Duval Street. Where the helicopter sets down is settled with the operator when you book.
Nothing to File
Nothing to File and Nothing to Carry Beyond Your Bags
The whole route stays inside Florida, so your party fills in nothing. The flight plan, the slot at the field and the car at the far end sit on our side. What may travel is in the baggage guidance.
On Board and Ashore
Catering, Transfers and Occasions Set Up With the Flight
Whatever the day is for is organised before you leave: catering on board, a car or a golf cart at the other end, flowers for a birthday. A proposal or an anniversary is planned into the flight as a custom experience rather than around it.
How Long the Day Runs
Same-Day Return or Several Nights in Key West
Most parties fly over in the morning and home the same evening, and the aircraft waits while you are on the island. Staying longer is the same booking with a later return. Weather and delays is the only thing that moves the plan.
Departure Points
Departure Points for Private Flights to Key West from Miami
Where your flight leaves from follows the aircraft you pick and where your party is staying. These are the four fields we use around Miami for a flight to the islands. Select one to see exactly where it sits.
Miami Executive
Miami Executive Airport, TMB, Kendall
Kendall-Tamiami, a general aviation field in the south west of the county, and the easy start for a small plane or a helicopter. Parking sits close to the ramp, so the walk to the aircraft is short. Pick it when your party is staying south or west of downtown.
Opa-locka Executive
Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, OPF
Opa-locka Executive in the north west, with private terminal handling for every aircraft on this page. If nothing else decides it, this is where the day begins.
Miami International
Miami International Airport, MIA
Miami International as a pickup, for a party arriving on an airline that wants to go straight on to the island. Set up flight by flight and confirmed with the operator before the quote. Allow extra ground time, because a big commercial airport keeps its own pace.
Fort Lauderdale Executive
Fort Lauderdale Executive, FXE
Fort Lauderdale Executive, for a party staying in Broward or further north. It has its own federal inspection station, so a return from the islands can clear there too. The aircraft comes to you rather than you driving south to it.
How to Book
Book Miami to Key West Flights
Booking a flight takes four steps, and only the first one is yours.
Plan Your Key West Charter- 01
Contact Us
Write to us on WhatsApp or by email. Send your dates, how many guests, where you are coming from and which aircraft you have in mind, or tell us you are not sure yet. Tell us the hour you would like to leave and whether you come back the same day. That is all we need to start.
- 02
Get the Options Back
We check what is free on your date and send the aircraft that fit your party, side by side: seats, bags, time in the air and the price of each. That is usually where the choice between water and runway makes itself: calm water and a table in Old Town point one way, a load of gear or a windy forecast the other.
- 03
Confirm and Pay
You pick the aircraft, and we fix the departure point and the landing site. Then everything around the flight: catering on board, a golf cart or ground transport on the island, flowers if the day is a special one. You approve it, you pay, and the boarding time comes back to you.
- 04
Be There 30 Minutes Before
There is no terminal queue on a charter. Arrive half an hour before the time we sent, walk to the aircraft with your bags and take off.
On the Island
Where Charter Flights Miami to Key West Put You Down
Where your flight puts you down in Key West depends on the aircraft. Floats end on the water beside the island, wheels end on the runway at Key West International, and from either one Old Town is a short drive or a golf cart away. Below is what waits at each end, and what a day out there can look like.
Plan Your Key West CharterKey West International for Runway Aircraft
Wheels Down
The small plane and the jet arrive at Key West International, identifier EYW, at the eastern end of the island. The runway is 5,076 feet of asphalt, long enough for a jet up to midsize. The route never leaves Florida, so there is no desk to pass and nothing to show on arrival. You step out on the ramp and the day starts there, since the crew settled the slot and the handling before departure. The car is waiting at the field if you booked ground transport, and the aircraft stays parked there for your return. On a day trip that means the same short ride back in the evening and no check-in at all.
The Water Beside the Island for the Seaplane
On the Water
The seaplane on this route is amphibious, with floats and wheels, so it can come down on the water beside the island or on the runway at Key West International. Which one your day uses is fixed before you book. With a boat or a private dock, send the coordinates and the pilots decide whether they can put down there. That is a yacht transfer, and the details are on the seaplane from Miami to Key West page. Water landings run from thirty minutes after sunrise to thirty minutes before sunset. A return arriving after dark lands on a lit runway instead of on the water.
Old Town and the Conch Republic
Most Asked For
Old Town is where most parties spend the day: Duval Street, the harbour, the Hemingway house and the lighthouse across the road from it, all within walking distance of each other at the western end of the island. From the ramp at Key West International it is under four miles, about thirteen minutes by car. More on the island is on the Key West destination page. A golf cart or a car can wait at the field, so the whole hop from the aircraft to the table is arranged before you land, bags included.
Mallory Square at Sunset
The Evening
The sunset at Mallory Square on the harbour is the evening most guests stay for, and the reason so many day trips fly home after dark rather than before it. The square fills an hour before the sun goes down, with the harbour, the boats and the islands to the west in front of it. A sunset flight shows the same light from above. If you want a table waiting when you land, add a fly and dine day, and anything outside the usual list goes to custom requests before you land.
Flying Over the Reef
Seen From Above
The flight from Miami is almost all water. Biscayne Bay comes first, then the chain of the Keys runs out ahead, with Florida Bay flat and green on one side and the reef line dark under pale water on the other. The Seven Mile Bridge and the old bridge beside it cross the middle of the chain, and the backcountry flats open up before the island. It is one of the reasons people ask for scenic flights on this route. Ask the crew to come in low over the water if the day allows, and have a camera ready on the side facing the reef.
Tarpon and Permit on the Flats
Where Anglers Go
The flats and the backcountry around Key West are why many anglers fly down at all. Tarpon run from about five to two hundred pounds and are released at the boat, and permit, rarely above forty pounds, are the fish people cross the world for. A guide boat leaves from the marinas on the island, and a day on the flats fits between a morning flight and an evening one. More on it is on the flats fishing page. Tell us at the enquiry how many rods are coming, and the aircraft is chosen around them rather than the other way round.
Bags, Rods and Payload by Aircraft
What Each One Carries
What you can bring is a question of weight, and every aircraft answers it differently. Floats carry less than wheels, a helicopter less again, and a jet the most. Rods, dive gear, a cooler for the boat: tell us at the enquiry and the right aircraft comes back with the quote. Fishing rods are the usual request on this island. The baggage guidance explains the trade between passengers and weight. Anything bigger than luggage travels as island logistics instead. The simple rule: the more you carry, the more the runway aircraft make sense, and the lighter you travel, the more the water landing beside the island becomes the easy choice.
On to the Dry Tortugas
Seaplane Only
Key West is the end of the road, and the Dry Tortugas lie about seventy miles further west, reachable only by boat or seaplane. Fort Jefferson sits on Garden Key in clear water, and a flight to the Dry Tortugas makes it the same trip. The same charter can carry on to Big Pine Key, Marathon, Islamorada or Key Largo. That is how one stop becomes island hopping. The ready-made version of a single day is the Key West getaway day trip, and the rest of the chain is on the Florida Keys destinations page.
Ready When You Are
Ready to Book Charter Flights to Key West from Miami?
Send your date, the number of guests and the aircraft you are leaning towards. You get back what is free, what each option costs and when it can leave, and nothing is booked until you say so.
Add-Ons
Charter Flight to Key West Add-Ons
Name the ones you want when you send your dates and they are priced together with the flight.
In Detail
Flights from Miami to Key West: What to Know Before You Fly
Everything above is the day. What follows is the detail behind flights from Miami to Key West: what the route looks like, who sets the hour, what is arranged for you and what people fly over to mark. Other flights to the Florida Keys work the same way, only further.
Miami to Key West Charter Flights: Four Ways Down the Chain of the Keys
The same water to Key West seen from four different aircraft
The flight down is not dead time between two airports, whichever aircraft you take. Leaving Miami, Biscayne Bay opens up under the wing, then the Keys string out ahead with the Seven Mile Bridge in the middle. How you see it depends on the aircraft. A seaplane and a helicopter stay low enough to read the water, and the helicopter has glass on every side. A small plane gives everybody a window. A private jet climbs over the afternoon weather and turns the route into a short hop. On a clear morning the reef line shows dark under pale water off the ocean side all the way down. That is why charter flights to Key West from Miami double as scenic flights for anybody sitting by a window. The backcountry flats on the Gulf side are just as clear, pale green and full of channels. Nobody on board has to lean over a stranger to see it, because the whole cabin belongs to your party. An afternoon return shows the same water in a lower light, so the way home is a second view, not a repeat.
Private Flights to Key West from Miami: You Decide the Departure Time
Your hour, your names and a charter flight to Key West
Private flights to Key West from Miami have no timetable. The day is built around the hour you name, not around a departure board. You pick the hour you want to lift off, the hour you want to be on the island and the one you want to be home, and the whole plan is built backwards from those three times. The aircraft is held for your party, so a change a few days before is a message to us. Half an hour before departure is the whole check-in. Your party walks from the car to the aircraft, the bags go on in front of you and the only names on the list are yours. The same freedom holds on the way back. If lunch on Duval Street runs long or you stay for the sunset at Mallory Square, the aircraft waits, and the hour home moves with you instead of a gate closing on you. A day trip and a long weekend in Key West are planned the same way: three times from you, one aircraft held for your party and nobody else's schedule anywhere in the day. A morning departure puts you in Old Town before the heat builds, and an evening return has you back in Miami for dinner. Every hour in between belongs to your party and to nobody else.
Miami to Key West Flights: Nothing to File, Nothing to Carry
No paperwork and no check-in desk on a Key West charter
Miami to Key West flights stay inside Florida from start to finish, so the work before the day is about the aircraft and the ground, not about your party. The crew plans the flight, books the slot at the field and checks the water or the runway at the far end. For a small plane and a jet that end is Key West International, and the car into Old Town is booked with the flight. Your party brings its bags and nothing else. What may travel is in the baggage guidance. A name added or dropped before the day is a message to us, and a departure moved by weather runs under the weather and delays policy. Coming home works the same way in reverse. The return hour is set before you leave the island and the aircraft is held for it, which is part of the plan we send with the quote. None of this is paperwork your party fills in at a counter. The headcount and the names are all we need from you, and if a detail changes on the day, the crew updates the plan.
Charter Flights Miami to Key West: Milestone Days and Florida Weekends
A day trip, a weekend or a celebration in Key West
Most people who fly over mark something. Charter flights Miami to Key West are booked for a birthday, a proposal, an anniversary or a weekend away with the people who matter, and the flight is short enough that the occasion stays the point of the day. Some parties fly over for the day and are home for dinner, others stay a few nights and book the return for the day they want. The whole party travels together on one booking. If there is something to celebrate, say so when you book: catering, a private chef and flowers travel with you, set up before you board. The date comes first and the aircraft is planned around it, so a sunset dinner or a boat leaving at a set hour decides when you fly, not the other way round. Tell us the occasion and the number of guests with your date, and the quote comes back with the aircraft, the hours and whatever you asked to have on board, ready for you to confirm with one reply. A table for the sunset or a boat out to the flats is booked into the same plan before anybody boards.
Questions
Charter Flights to Key West from Miami: Questions Answered
How long is the flight from Miami to Key West?
Key West is about 114 nautical miles southwest of downtown Miami, nearly all of it water. A seaplane covers it in a little under an hour in the air. For a small plane, a helicopter or a jet the time depends on the aircraft and the field you leave from, and it comes back with the quote.
By road the same distance is three to four hours each way down the Overseas Highway, so on a day trip most parties spend far longer on the island than in the air.
What is the best way to get to Key West?
It depends on where you want to end up and what you carry. A seaplane puts you on the water beside the island or on the runway, agreed for your date. A small plane or a jet lands at Key West International at the eastern end, a short drive from Old Town, and handles more weight and rougher water.
Where the helicopter sets down is settled with the operator when you book. We quote the options side by side so you can compare. Driving from Miami works too, but it is three to four hours each way on a single road.
Is there anything to file before flying to Key West?
No. The whole route stays inside Florida, so your party fills in nothing and carries nothing beyond its bags. We take the headcount and the names once when you enquire, and the flight plan, the slot and the car at the far end sit on our side. The baggage guidance lists what may travel and what needs to be mentioned in advance. Nothing has to be printed or carried.
Can a seaplane land on the water in Key West?
Yes. The seaplane we fly on this route is amphibious, with floats and wheels, so it can put down on the water beside the island or on the runway at Key West International, identifier EYW.
Water landings run from 30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset, and the runway covers the rest of the day. Which of the two suits your day is the first thing we answer when you send your dates and your party size.
Where does the flight land in Key West?
That depends on the aircraft. A small plane and a jet land at Key West International at the eastern end of the island, on a runway of 5,076 feet.
From the ramp it is under four miles to Duval Street, about thirteen minutes by car, and the car is booked with the flight. A seaplane lands on the water beside the island or on the same runway. Where the helicopter sets down is settled with the operator when you book.
Can you take a day trip to Key West?
Yes, and it is the most common way this route is flown. On a charter the aircraft waits for you, so the return is set by you and not by a timetable. Out in the morning, back in the evening.
A seaplane lands on water from 30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset, and a return after dark lands on a lit runway instead of on water, so the latest useful departure comes with your date. If you would rather stay a night, tell us when you enquire and the return is planned for that day.
How much baggage can we take?
It is a question of weight, not of the number of bags, and it differs by aircraft. Floats carry less than wheels, and a jet carries the most. Say what is coming when you enquire, including rods, dive gear and anything with a battery, and the answer comes back with the quote rather than at the aircraft.
Fishing rods are the usual request on this island, and they are rarely a problem once we know how many. If the load decides it, the aircraft is chosen around what you bring, not the other way round.
Is Key West good for families?
It suits families well for a day out of Miami. Old Town is small and walkable, with the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor at its western end and the Southernmost Point marker a few streets away, and a golf cart covers the rest.
On a charter there is no terminal and no queue, which is usually what makes the difference with small children, and the flight replaces three to four hours in a car.
Can we fly on to the Dry Tortugas from Key West afterwards?
Yes, by seaplane. The Dry Tortugas lie about seventy miles west of Key West and can only be reached by boat or seaplane, so that leg switches to floats. The same trip can also come back up the chain to Marathon, Islamorada or Key Largo. Tell us the shape of the whole trip when you enquire and it is quoted as one booking rather than several charters.
What happens if the weather is bad on the day?
Every aircraft handles weather differently. A seaplane needs calm enough water to land, a small plane and a jet use the runway and a jet can climb above much of it.
If conditions are below what is safe, the crew moves or cancels the flight and the weather and delays policy says what that means for your booking. That call is always the crew's, and because summer afternoons move more flights than mornings, an early departure is the safer plan.
Is a charter cheaper than a scheduled flight?
No, and it is not meant to be. A scheduled seat is cheaper because someone else picked the time and you share the aircraft. A charter buys you the aircraft: your departure, your return, your party only. On a day trip that usually means several more hours on the island, and no waiting in a terminal on either side of the water, which is the comparison worth making.
We send the price for the whole aircraft, so you can split it across your party and compare fairly. Tell us what matters most, the time on the island, the landing point or the budget, and we suggest the aircraft that fits it best.
Can I bring a pet on a charter flight?
Yes, pets travel in the cabin with you. The one thing we ask is that you tell us at the enquiry, with the type of animal and its weight, so the seating and the load plan are right from the start.
Next Step
Ready to Book Miami to Key West Charter Flights?
Send your date, the number of guests and where you are leaving from. You get back the aircraft that fit, the boarding time and what the whole day costs, before anything is booked.
- 24/7 support
- Fast response
- No obligation
Explore
