What Is an Empty Leg? Empty Private Jet Flights Explained

What does empty leg mean?

An empty leg is a flight sector that a private jet has to fly without paying passengers. In German it is called a Leerflug, literally an empty flight.

For the operator, such a flight is initially pure cost. Fuel, crew, airport and navigation charges all apply, yet nobody is paying for them. If the sector is sold as an empty leg, the revenue covers at least part of that cost.

For you as a traveller, this means you fly on the same aircraft, with the same crew and under the same rules as on a standard charter. The difference is not the product but the fact that route and timing are already fixed.

How do empty legs come about?

Private jets do not follow a timetable. They go wherever clients need them, which inevitably creates sectors without passengers. The most common reasons are:

• Return after a one-way charter: a client flies from Düsseldorf to Ibiza, and the aircraft then has to return to base.
• Positioning for the next job: the next client departs from Zurich, but the aircraft is still in Vienna.
• A longer stay: rather than waiting a week in Mallorca, the jet flies home empty and returns later.
• Transfers: flights to maintenance or a new home base, provided the operator is allowed to carry passengers.

Why are empty legs cheaper?

A standard charter price has to cover every cost of the job, including the sectors the aircraft flies empty before and after. With an empty leg, much of that cost has already been paid by the original client.

The operator can therefore price the flight below its full cost and still be better off than flying empty. On PrivJet, savings of up to 75 % compared with a comparable charter are possible. The actual discount depends on aircraft category, route, lead time and demand.

Advantages of empty leg flights

Beyond the price, empty legs offer the same benefits as any private jet flight:

• Privacy: you book the whole aircraft and travel only with your own party.
• Short distances: handling often takes place in separate terminals or handling areas rather than busy airline terminals.
• Direct routes: including destinations without scheduled services, such as smaller airports in holiday regions.
• Shared cost: the price is per aircraft, not per person, so each traveller's share falls as your group grows.
• Same standards: in Europe, flights are operated by carriers approved for commercial passenger transport (EASA AOC).

Drawbacks and restrictions

An empty leg is not a discounted charter where you set every detail. Be aware of the following before booking:

• Fixed route: departure and arrival airports are set by the original job. Changes are possible only in exceptional cases.
• Limited timing: the operator usually specifies a time window.
• Dependence on the main booking: if the original client changes or cancels, the empty leg may move or be cancelled.
• One way only: an empty leg is normally a single sector, so the return needs separate planning.
• Short notice: many empty legs are published only days or a few weeks in advance.

Who are empty legs for?

Empty legs suit travellers with some flexibility on dates or airports. A family in Munich planning a short break on the Côte d'Azur, happy to leave a day earlier or later, may well find an empty leg to Nice that fits.

They are less suitable if you must be in a specific place at an exact time with no fallback. In that case, a standard charter is the more reliable choice.

Common myths about empty legs

A few misconceptions come up regularly:

• Empty legs are less safe. They are not. The same aircraft and crew fly under the same operating rules as any other commercial flight by that operator.
• Empty legs are only for the very wealthy. Because the price covers the whole aircraft, the share per person can be moderate with a larger group. With ShareMyJet you can also book individual seats on empty legs at least 7 days ahead.
• Empty legs are only available hours before departure. Some are short notice, but others can be booked several weeks in advance.

Finding empty legs on PrivJet

PrivJet arranges empty legs and charters from more than 200 operators. You can filter by departure, destination, date and number of passengers and compare offers directly.

If nothing suitable is available, set up a free route alert by push notification or email. If you need to travel on a fixed date, submit a charter request and PrivJet will gather quotes from up to 10 suitable operators in parallel.