HondaJet HA-420

Updated: October 2026 – A small jet rolls to the holding point, and something is off about the familiar picture: the engines don’t hang at the back of the fuselage but sit on pylons on top of the wings. Then you are very likely looking at a HondaJet. The HA-420 is the first aircraft the Honda group has built in series, and it is one of those small jets you never confuse again after consciously seeing it once. Here you learn how the jet came about, which versions exist, what is behind the unusual engine concept and where you can get it in front of your lens in Europe.

What is the HondaJet HA-420?

The HondaJet is a light twinjet business aircraft for typically four to five passengers. The manufacturer is the Honda Aircraft Company, the aviation subsidiary of the Japanese Honda group, with its headquarters and plant at Piedmont Triad Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. Officially the type is certified as the HA-420, but in everyday talk practically everyone just says HondaJet.

In size it plays in the same league as the Embraer Phenom 100 or the Cessna Citation Mustang: just under 13 meters long, a good 12 meters of wingspan, a maximum takeoff weight of about 4.8 tonnes in the base version. Depending on the source it is classed as a very light jet or a light jet – the line is blurry. It is built for owner-pilots, for charter and air taxi companies and for businesses that want to cover short to medium distances faster than with a turboprop.

What sets the HondaJet apart from all competitors is the engine arrangement: the two nacelles sit on pylons above the wings. Add a finely honed nose, a composite fuselage and an aluminum wing designed for laminar airflow for as long as possible.

History: from research project to production jet

Honda had been involved in aviation research since the 1980s. The central figure of the HondaJet is the engineer Michimasa Fujino, who worked out the concept in the late 1990s and later headed the Honda Aircraft Company. For his work on the HondaJet he received several awards from major aviation associations, including prizes from the US professional society AIAA. A nice side note: by his own account, Fujino took inspiration from elegant Italian shoes for the shape of the nose.

The prototype took off for its first flight on December 3, 2003 in Greensboro. Honda first showed the jet publicly in July 2005 at the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh – the big gathering of American general aviation. The response was so good that Honda announced series production in 2006. A dedicated plant was then built in Greensboro.

Certification then took considerably longer than originally hoped. The first flight of an aircraft in certification configuration took place in December 2010, and the first production aircraft flew in June 2014. In December 2015 the US aviation authority FAA granted the type certificate, and the first jet went to a customer that same month. The European EASA followed in May 2016, Japan in December 2018. The first delivery to a European dealer took place in April 2016.

In the years after, production got off to a good start: according to industry reports based on the delivery statistics of the manufacturers’ association GAMA, the HondaJet was the most-delivered jet in its class from 2017 to 2019. By early 2024, according to reference works, around 250 had been delivered. Compared with the Citation or Phenom, though, the fleet remains modest – one reason the type counts as a fairly rare sighting in Europe.

OTWEM: why the engines sit above the wing

Honda calls the concept the Over-The-Wing Engine Mount, or OTWEM for short. The idea is not entirely new: aircraft with engines above the wing already existed in the 1970s, such as the German VFW 614. At the time, however, the arrangement was considered aerodynamically tricky because the airflow around wing and nacelle can interfere with each other.

Honda chose the position of the nacelles using elaborate wind tunnel and flow calculations so that the pylons attach at about three quarters of the wing chord. There, according to the manufacturer, wing and nacelle even influence each other positively – Honda speaks of a “favorable interference” that lowers wave drag at high speeds.

For you as a spotter the result is above all one thing: a small jet with a silhouette that exists nowhere else. As soon as you see the engines on top of the wing, the identification is practically done.

The engine: GE Honda HF120

Honda wanted to develop not just the airframe but also the powerplant itself. The result was the HF120, a small turbofan in the thrust class of about 2,000 pounds (about 9 kilonewtons). It is built by GE Honda Aero Engines, a joint venture of Honda and GE Aerospace – the HF120 is its first product.

In the HondaJet each engine delivers about 9.1 kN of takeoff thrust. The FAA certified the HF120 in December 2013, and it has been built in Burlington, North Carolina since late 2014 – not far from the aircraft plant in Greensboro. From the ground you recognize the HF120 mainly by its position – the nacelle itself is slim and unobtrusive.

The versions at a glance

Honda has revised the HondaJet several times since its initial certification. Outwardly the versions barely differ, but in the cockpit and in performance they differ clearly.

HondaJet (base version)

The first production version from 2015 with the Garmin G3000 glass cockpit and a range of about 1,223 nautical miles. For early aircraft Honda later offered a retrofit package (APMG) that increased range and takeoff weight and shortened the takeoff run.

HondaJet Elite (2018)

The Elite brought a revised engine inlet that reduces vibration and cabin noise, an additional tank and aerodynamic fine-tuning. Range rose to about 1,437 NM. The lavatory received a seat with a belt, so that one more passenger can fly along. The tips of the horizontal stabilizer were extended, and the avionics gained new functions such as takeoff and landing distance calculation. In 2020 EASA also approved the Elite for steep approaches of up to 5.5 degrees – an approach angle demanded by airports such as London City.

HondaJet Elite S (2021)

The Elite S received a maximum takeoff weight about 90 kilograms higher and thus more leeway in payload and fuel.

HondaJet Elite II (2022)

The Elite II was unveiled in October 2022 and certified by the FAA in November 2022. According to the manufacturer it offers about 1,547 NM of range and cruise speeds of up to 422 knots. New are an autothrottle and Garmin’s Emergency Autoland system, which can land the jet by itself in an emergency, for example when the pilot stops responding. According to the manufacturer, there were also updates to the cabin and paint options. At the time of research, the Elite II was the current production version.

Version	Year	Main changes	Range (manufacturer)
HondaJet	2015	First production version, Garmin G3000	approx. 1,223 NM
Elite	2018	Quieter inlet, additional tank, more seats	approx. 1,437 NM
Elite S	2021	Higher takeoff weight	–
Elite II	2022	Autothrottle, Emergency Autoland, new cabin	approx. 1,547 NM

Outlook: the larger Echelon

In 2021 Honda presented the concept of a considerably larger jet, initially called the HondaJet 2600. In 2023 the manufacturer announced the start of development, and the project now runs under the name Echelon (HA-480). It gets a longer fuselage, more wingspan and Williams FJ44 engines – according to Honda also above the wing. Honda cited the end of the 2020s as the certification target. Until the first deliveries, the HA-420 remains the HondaJet you see on the apron.

How to identify the HondaJet with confidence

With the HondaJet, identification is unusually easy – provided you can see the wings. It only gets harder when the jet comes straight at you from the front or stands far away in backlight.

HondaJet, Phenom, Citation or Vision Jet?

Small jets often look alike at first glance. The finder helps you tell the most common candidates on the GA apron apart. A broader overview is given by the guide Telling business jet types apart.

For more depth: the Embraer Phenom 300 is considerably larger and carries winglets, the Pilatus PC-24 you recognize by its T-tail and short, stout silhouette, the Cirrus Vision Jet by its single engine. On the Citation CJ3 and CJ4 the engines are also at the rear of the fuselage.

Where you find the HondaJet in Europe

The HondaJet is primarily an American success – most examples fly in the US. In Europe it is much rarer but turns up regularly with private owners and smaller charter operators. Sightings are therefore not a mass product but a nice catch. How to judge how special your sighting is, you can read in the article How rare is my sighting?.

Your best chances are at airports with a lot of business aviation:

Place	Chance of a hit	Why
Geneva	medium	One of Europe’s most important business jet airports, especially during trade shows and conferences
Nice	medium	High share of private jets, especially in the summer season
Paris-Le Bourget	medium	Pure business aviation airport near Paris
London-Luton	medium	Large GA terminal for the Greater London area
Salzburg	low to medium	Seasonally a lot of private traffic, such as during the festival and ski season
Regional airports	low	Occasional visits by owners and air taxi flights

In Switzerland, besides Geneva, a look at Zurich is also worthwhile, for example from the Butzenbüel. In Geneva you have a good view of the traffic from the observation deck, in Salzburg from the observation deck. You will find basic tips on the subject in Spotting business jets and Spotting general aviation.

How to set up notifications for specific types is explained in the guide Setting up flight tracking alerts. What is behind codes like HDJT, you can read in ICAO type codes explained.

Photo tips for the HondaJet

A HondaJet is small, and that is exactly what makes it photographically demanding. At the same time, with the engines above the wing it has a detail you definitely want in the frame.

You can work out when the light suits your spot in advance with the guide Planning the sun position for your photo spot. And if you ever have to shoot into the sun, Backlight in aircraft photography helps.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Safety and accidents

Like any type, the HondaJet has had accidents. Several of them were runway overruns. The most serious occurred in November 2024 in Mesa, Arizona: a HondaJet overran the end of the runway during a takeoff attempt, killing four occupants and one person on the ground. In April 2025, another HondaJet rolled off the runway on landing in Oregon and ended up in water; all five occupants survived. The investigations are conducted by US authorities – results and recommendations are published by the NTSB.

Conclusion

The HondaJet is proof that something new can still be invented in the seemingly fully developed small jet market. With engines above the wing, its own HF120 powerplant and the sweeping nose, Honda created a jet that stands out on the apron at once. For spotters in Europe it is not an everyday type but a sighting you earn with some planning at business aviation airports.