The Future of Private Air Travel: A Review of Diamond Air Taxis’ DA62 Experience
By Vivienne Stanton
Having never booked a private flight before, I felt both excitement and a small amount of trepidation. My past encounters with small planes had been less than ideal—an old Russian aircraft in Cuba where the engine stopped mid-air, when all the passengers, complete strangers, held hands in fear. Luckily my flight with Diamond Air Taxis proved to be a much smoother and more luxurious experience.
Booking the flight was super easy. From the website I simply entered my destination (Canberra) and preferred departure date, and added my weight and baggage options. Weight and balance need to be kept within a prescribed window for the aircraft, and the app allowed a non-shaming 10kg range. Luggage needed to be kept to a minimum, with one to three 7kg bags, although if you have other baggage requirements you can contact them.
A list of times appeared, and I clicked on the one I wanted. Diamond Air Taxis has a generous cancellation policy; if you change your mind, you can cancel your booking online. With seven days’ notice, there’s a full refund, no questions asked.
Easy parking, easy access
I arrived at Bankstown Airport 15 minutes before my flight, parked my car in the free, ample car park, a comfy lounge with free coffee and drinks, and from there I pretty much walked straight onto the plane. There were no airport security lines, boarding passes, or rushing through the terminal to get to my gate.
On the apron, the DA62’s metallic blue exterior caught the sunlight. The aircraft’s sharp, clean lines and bold colour gave it a futuristic, almost sculptural quality. I climbed up over the wing to board and settled into the back seat, buckling up as I would in a car.
The DA62 is a beautiful plane, spacious and airy, with an interior not unlike a luxury car – a Ferrari of the sky.
It features sleek leather upholstery and comfortable seats. The DA62 can fit up to seven people, offering plenty of room. The front seats are adjustable, and the second-row bench split to provide flexibility for seating or storage. There’s even a third-row bench, ensuring ample space for both passengers and luggage. The cabin is air-conditioned.
Stephen, the founder of Diamond Air Taxis, arranged the flight and introduced me to the pilot, who handed me a set of Bose noise-cancelling headphones.. These were how we communicated during the flight and blocked out the engine noise, which was quieter than I expected. I put them on, and the sounds of Julia and Angus Stone’s “Big Jet Plane” played through the Bluetooth as we taxied down the runway. Nice touch.
A helicopter landed to the left of us as our engine rumbled to life, and the aircraft quickly soared into the sky, crossing over the Georges River with Parramatta and Western Sydney spreading off to our right as we climbed to our cruising height of 10,000 feet.
An immersive experience
Flying in a small aircraft is a more immersive experience than commercial flights. The open cockpit allowed me to observe the pilots up close, working the control panel’s dense array of dials, gauges, and screens, checking the weather, the aircraft’s height, wind speed, and managing every aspect of the flight. The flight was smoother than I expected. As I peered out of the plane’s windows from the backseat, at times the expansive view was the only thing reminding me I was in a plane, not riding inside a luxury car.
Cruising at lower altitudes gives you a fresh perspective on the landscape
Cruising at lower altitudes gives you a fresh perspective on the landscape below—views of rolling hills, winding rivers, and the cookie-cutter coastline of Eastern NSW that I might have missed at 35,000 feet. We saw a blanket of fog over the Blue Mountains, which I was certain looked bluer from the sky. Stephen pointed out Stanwell Tops, where you could sometimes see parachutes and hang gliders soaring off the escarpment.
“It’s a great day for flying,” Stephen said, gesturing at the unfurling sky and the land stretching out below us. It was clear how much he loved it. When he bought the DA62 from the Diamond Factory in Vienna, he flew it home. The journey took him six days, covering nearly 16,000 km east, with stops in Crete, Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Broome, and Alice Springs. You can see some of Steve’s journeys here, which have racked up thousands of views on YouTube. He flew 10.5 hours a day, which was considerable given there was no toilet on board (small aircraft pilots must find creative solutions to manage their needs).
Smooth touch down
“There are so many places you can reach in a day in a small plane that would take too long to drive to.”
There was no such issue on the day of my flight. Within an hour, we touched down at our destination, Canberra Airport, where we used the facilities and grabbed a drink. It was a beautiful day, though a bit chilly. When Stephen had flown here recently with his school-aged son, they had brought folding bikes in the back of the plane and rode them into town along Lake Burley Griffin. Other trips have taken in the beaches, hiking and stunning scenery of Lord Howe Island, the slopes for a day of skiing at Mount Hotham, a visit to Broken Hill’s Menindee Lakes and a relaxed day of lunch and wine-tasting in Mudgee.
Sleek design, better fuel efficiency
The DA62 stands out not only for its sleek design but also for its fuel efficiency. Unlike many light aircraft that use Avgas—a leaded fuel known for its environmental drawbacks—the DA62 operated on Jet A-1 fuel, which is lead-free and globally used by airlines. This not only made the DA62 a more eco-friendly choice (though Stephen admitted this was relative) but also contributed to its cost-effectiveness.
Stephen explained that the DA62’s modern diesel engines, adapted from Mercedes automotive technology, consumed about half the fuel of traditional piston engines for the same journey. This combination of advanced fuel and engine technology resulted in a plane that burned less fuel, reduced emissions, and performed more efficiently.
“Traveling on a Diamond DA62 is no worse for the environment than traveling on a commercial airline, on a per-seat basis,” Stephen said, adding that he was exploring ways to calculate and offset carbon emissions, with plans to offer this option to customers in the near future.
Soon it was time to board for the flight back to Sydney—shorter on the way home due to catching a tailwind. As we left the nation’s capital behind, the Captain Cook Memorial Jet, which sprayed water from the lake to a height of 150 metres, looked like a tiny speck as we cruised off into the distance, with Dido’s “Take You Home” playing in my headphones.