What is an empty leg flight?
An empty leg is a private jet flight that would otherwise fly with no passengers on board. Charters are often one way: a jet flies a client from London to Geneva, and then has to get back to its base, or on to where its next client is waiting. That repositioning flight still costs the operator fuel, crew and fees, so instead of flying it empty they sell it.
You book the whole aircraft, not a seat, on a fixed route and a fixed (or narrow) departure window. Because the operator would be flying it anyway, the price is usually far below what the same flight costs as a charter. Empty legs are also called empty sectors, repositioning flights or one-way deals.
Why are empty legs so much cheaper?
When you charter a jet one way, you normally pay for the aircraft to come back as well, or to position in from wherever it is. An empty leg is that return or positioning flight. The trip it belongs to is already paid for, so anything the operator earns from it is extra. That is why empty legs are often priced at half the cost of an equivalent charter or less, and why the price can drop further as the departure gets closer.
The price is for the whole aircraft. A light jet seats four to seven, a midsize jet seven to nine. Split across a full cabin, the price per seat comes down fast.
What's the catch?
Flexibility. An empty leg exists because of someone else's trip, so you fit around it, not the other way round. The route, the date and often the departure window are fixed. If the original client changes their plans, the empty leg can move or be cancelled, sometimes at short notice, so keep a backup for anything you cannot miss.
Empty legs are one way. If you need to come back, you either catch another empty leg, book a scheduled flight, or charter the return. And because they appear only once the operator knows where its jets are going, most are published days, not months, before they fly.
Who are empty legs good for?
Anyone whose plans have some give in them: a weekend away that could start on Thursday or Friday, a ski trip where Geneva and Sion both work, a business trip with a flexible return, or a group that would otherwise split across airline seats. Empty legs also suit travelling with pets, skis or golf bags, which is easier on a private aircraft than on an airline.
How do you find empty legs?
Operators publish their own empty legs, but each lists only its own fleet and only for a few days. Hopleg collects them from operators across Europe several times a day and puts them on one board, searchable by route and date.
Since the good ones go quickly, the most reliable approach is a route alert: tell us where you would like to fly and when, and we email you as soon as a matching flight is posted. Popular airports such as London, Paris, Geneva, Nice and Ibiza see empty legs most weeks; in winter the Alpine airports are busiest, in summer the Mediterranean.
How does booking work?
Pick a flight and send an enquiry. We confirm availability, the aircraft and the final price with the operator, then send you a quote that shows the charter price, our service fee and the total. Nothing is booked or charged until you accept that quote. The operator flying the aircraft is responsible for the flight itself, and confirms the contract with you.