Every private jet that flies a charter flight from Paris to Dubai creates, necessarily, a return sector. If that return sector is not booked by another client, the aircraft flies empty — what the industry calls an "empty leg." The operator bears the full cost of that empty flight regardless of whether it carries passengers. The result is an alignment of interests: the operator prefers to sell that sector at a reduced rate rather than fly it entirely at their own cost, and the passenger gains access to a private jet at a fraction of its standard price. This guide explains how the empty leg market functions, who it is suited for, and how FFGR sources and presents empty leg opportunities to its clients.
How Empty Leg Flights Are Generated
An empty leg is created whenever a private aircraft needs to reposition from one location to another without a paying passenger. The most common scenario is a one-way charter: a client flies from Nice to London in a Gulfstream, and the aircraft must return to its base in Geneva. If the operator can sell the Nice-to-Geneva or Nice-to-London return sector, even at a heavily discounted rate, the repositioning cost is offset. The resulting offer is what the market refers to as an empty leg.
Empty legs also arise from maintenance positioning — aircraft flying to a maintenance facility — and from crew rotation requirements. The key characteristic of all empty legs is inflexibility: the route, aircraft, and departure window are determined by the operational requirement that generated the empty leg, not by the passenger's preferences. This inflexibility is precisely what creates the price advantage.
What Discount to Expect and What It Covers
Typical empty leg discounts range from forty to seventy-five per cent below the standard charter rate for the same aircraft on the same route. The precise discount depends on proximity to departure: an empty leg offered seven days before departure may carry a forty per cent reduction, while the same sector offered twelve hours before departure may be available at seventy per cent below standard rates. The operator's flexibility on timing determines the depth of the discount.
The price reduction applies to the aircraft cost only. Landing fees, ground handling, catering and other operational charges remain payable at standard rates. The aircraft itself is identical to what the previous charter client used: same cabin configuration, same crew standard, same safety certification. The reduced price reflects the market value of a fixed-route, fixed-time flight, not a reduction in the quality of the product.
Who Benefits Most from Empty Legs
Empty legs are best suited for travellers whose destination and timing align with the available sector, and who can maintain flexibility in their departure window. The ideal empty leg passenger is travelling to a major business aviation hub — London, Paris, Geneva, Nice, Ibiza, Dubai — where empty leg availability is highest. Travellers with fixed commitments at the destination time benefit less, since the departure window on an empty leg may shift by several hours to accommodate operational requirements.
Corporate teams moving between cities where one direction is already served by an existing charter arrangement are among the most frequent users of empty legs. The outbound flight is chartered at standard rates; the inbound flight uses an available empty leg in the opposite direction, effectively halving the round-trip cost. For leisure travellers who can restructure their schedule around an advantageous empty leg, the savings are equally compelling.
How FFGR Sources and Presents Empty Legs
FFGR maintains active access to the empty leg inventories of a network of IS-BAO and ARGUS-certified operators across Europe and the Middle East. When a client requests empty leg availability for a specific route or date range, FFGR queries the live market and presents verified options with full aircraft specifications, crew details and applicable conditions. We do not list empty legs speculatively: every option presented to a client has been confirmed available at time of presentation.
Clients who register an interest in specific routes can receive proactive notification when a matching empty leg becomes available. This monitoring service requires no commitment: we alert you to the opportunity, and you decide whether to proceed. Given the speed at which desirable empty legs are taken up — particularly on popular summer routes — rapid response after notification significantly improves the probability of securing the sector.
Register your preferred routes and receive empty leg alerts from FFGR Jets
Or by email: contact@ffgrjets.com
