Is flying on a private jet on your bucket list? Do you like the idea of having a luxury jet all to yourself and avoiding long queues? The convenience of a non-scheduled private flight is certainly very tempting but as many sumptuous things in life you may have always thought it was out of reach… Well, here is a little secret called an “empty leg”.
On average 40% of private jets fly without passengers each day going to or returning from their destination. The main reason is that the aircraft operator cannot find a customer willing to pay the full price for that plane, that specific one-way route and time. The aircraft has to move anyway, and the operator will happily sell the empty part of the charter flight at a reduced rate.
These private jet charters are called empty legs. Sometimes you can come across other terms such as empty sectors, repositioning flights, or ferry flights, but they all mean the same and very often come at highly discounted prices. Empty legs can be as cheap as 75% off the original charter price. Their databases are continuously growing with new destinations being added – some of them might match yours.
Let’s have a closer look at how it works.
Where to look for empty legs?
Booking an empty leg flight can be done through many aviation professionals. Not every charter company advertises them but most of them have something to offer. Another option is an air charter broker that acts as a middleman and has access to many aircraft operators. The concept is similar to any travel agency. You can go direct and save a little more or you can use someone who has more contacts and will do all the hard work for you.
You can look for empty legs online. Some sites offer a current list of specials, some let you subscribe to alerts based on your basic entries such as airport of departure and destination. Other companies offer plenty of contact details that can be used to get in touch and simply let them know your requirement. They will get in touch as soon as they find a matching deal.
Booking
Remember when you book your private jet, you don’t book just a seat, you book the whole plane. The cost per person can go down if you take advantage of all available seats and bring more people with you on board, be it family, friends, or colleagues. You will always know the type of aircraft being offered and its seating capacity. You may be able to take your pet with you as well for no further charge but that varies from plane to plane, so we recommend that you check with the charter company first.
Although quite rare, some empty legs are offered by-the-seat which becomes more affordable for single travellers or couples.
Pricing
When you receive an offer, your quote will be all-inclusive. There should not be any hidden fees if you chose the right air charter company. The good thing about empty leg deals is that prices can be negotiable. Pricing varies by aircraft type, route, dates, and other circumstances.
Here are some ballpark figures you can expect per aircraft:
| Aircraft type | Size category | Passengers | Flight duration | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phenom 300 | Super light jet | 7 | 1 hour | 600 EUR / 705 USD |
| Hawker 400 | Light jet | 7 | 4 hours | 6200 EUR / 7300 USD |
| Cessna Citation Bravo | Light jet | 7 | 45 minutes | 6000 EUR / 7050 USD |
| Learjet 60 | Mid-size cabin | 8 | 2 hours | 10200 EUR / 12000 USD |
| Cessna Citation Excel | Mid-size cabin | 7 | 2 hours | 9000 EUR / 10600 USD |
| Challenger 605 | Large cabin | 9 | 2 hours | 13000 EUR / 15300 USD |
Caveat emptor
There are certain challenges when it comes to empty legs. Empty legs will be scheduled according to your needs as far as possible. However, your plans need to be flexible. As flying empty is very costly for charter companies, they usually make them available at the very last minute. Most of the time the routes and times are set in stone and there is less flexibility with delaying or bringing a flight forward. Moreover, the booking is in one direction, so if you have a return sector, you will find an alternative solution.
In addition, once you make a commitment, you may not be able to cancel it.
Catering is usually not included or is very basic in form of prepacked snacks. However, in some cases proper meals can be pre-arranged.
Enough of downsides though. If you can make yourself flexible, you can surely strike a nice deal and enjoy the benefits of flying private.
Bottom line
If you are a flexible traveller, empty leg flights can be an incredible way to enjoy many of the private air charter benefits at heavily discounted prices. If you find the prices published by the aviation professional too high, do not hesitate to give them a call and try to negotiate the cost down.
To get you started, Pristine Jet Charter can help you search for possible empty legs to or from any destination. As an accredited broker with a deep understanding of the industry and an unmatched network of operators, if there is an opportunity, we will find it. Contact us and we’ll see what we can do for you.
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Author: Elie Nehme