Empty Leg Flights Explained: How to Fly Private for Less

Empty legs are one of the genuine inefficiencies in private aviation — and one of the genuine opportunities for flexible travellers. Understanding how they arise, how to access them, and crucially their limitations, can allow you to fly private at 30–75% below standard charter rates.

What Is an Empty Leg?

When a private jet is chartered for a one-way trip, the aircraft must reposition — fly empty — to its next assignment or home base. This positioning flight represents pure cost for the operator: fuel, crew time, and aircraft hours with no revenue.

Operators will often sell these empty positioning flights at heavily discounted rates rather than fly them completely empty. The result is a flight that would normally cost EUR 20,000 available for EUR 5,000–10,000.

Why the Discount Is So Large

The economics are straightforward. An operator's fixed costs for the positioning flight are unavoidable — the aircraft has to move regardless. Any revenue collected above marginal fuel and crew costs is pure margin. An operator who would normally charge EUR 18,000 for a London–Ibiza charter is better off selling the positioning return for EUR 6,000 than flying it empty.

From your perspective as a buyer, you are purchasing a flight that would otherwise go unsold. The discount reflects the operator's willingness to accept any contribution above marginal cost.

The Limitations — Important

Empty legs come with constraints that make them unsuitable for time-critical or inflexible travel:

**The route is fixed.** An empty leg from London Farnborough to Nice exists because an aircraft needs to get from London to Nice. You cannot change the routing.

**The timing is fixed.** The departure time is determined by the primary charter's schedule, not yours. If the outbound client departs at 0600, the empty leg departs shortly after. You cannot move it to suit your schedule.

**They can be cancelled.** If the primary charter cancels or changes plans, the empty leg disappears. This happens more frequently than operators would like to admit. Never book connecting flights or time-critical appointments on the assumption an empty leg will operate.

**Availability is unpredictable.** You cannot plan an empty leg trip six months in advance. The best empty legs appear 24–72 hours before departure. Some appear with only a few hours notice.

Where to Find Empty Legs

Several platforms aggregate empty leg inventory from multiple operators:

**PrivateFly** (now part of Flexjet) lists empty legs from its network with instant booking capability.

**Victor** has a large empty leg database with price transparency.

**Air Charter Service** publishes empty legs from its fleet and can source from partner operators.

**JetSmarter** and similar app-based services send real-time empty leg alerts by region.

Signing up for alerts from two or three platforms covering your most frequent routes is the most efficient approach. Set geographic alerts rather than specific routes — a London–Geneva empty leg and a London–Milan empty leg may both serve your needs.

Negotiating Empty Legs

Empty leg pricing is not fixed. Operators who have listed an empty leg for 48 hours without a buyer become increasingly motivated to sell as departure approaches. A reasonable opening negotiation on a EUR 8,000 listed empty leg 6 hours before departure might be EUR 5,000–6,000.

The key is not appearing desperate — operators know their leverage increases for buyers with fixed schedules. If you genuinely have flexibility, communicate it.

One-Way vs Round Trip Value

Empty legs are inherently one-way. If you need a return trip, you need two independent empty legs — which rarely align conveniently. For return trips, combining one empty leg with one standard on-demand charter is often the most practical approach.

Aircraft Type Considerations

Empty legs are available across all aircraft categories, but the supply is heaviest in the midsize and super-midsize categories — these aircraft operate the highest volume of one-way charters. Ultra-long-range aircraft (Gulfstream G650, Global 7500) generate fewer empty legs as they are typically operated on round-trip charters.

Our Assessment

Empty legs suit a specific type of traveller: someone with genuine schedule flexibility, travelling routes that align with high-volume charter corridors (London–Riviera, London–Geneva, New York–South Florida, Los Angeles–Las Vegas), and who is comfortable with the risk of last-minute cancellation.

For that traveller, empty legs represent genuine value. For anyone with fixed schedules, time-critical commitments, or routes off the beaten track, they are an unreliable primary travel strategy — better used as an occasional opportunity than a systematic approach.