Guide for private travelers

THE·EMPTY·LEGGUIDE

Everything a private traveler should know before booking an empty-leg flight: why they exist, how they’re priced, what can change, what to ask the operator and how to book one without surprises.

What an empty leg is

An empty leg is a private flight that an aircraft has to make anyway — usually to get back to base after dropping off passengers, or to reach the airport where its next trip starts. Without a booking it flies with nobody on board. Operators offer these flights to travelers so the trip earns something.

You charter the whole aircraft. The price is for the flight, not per person, and you can bring as many passengers as the operator allows for that aircraft. Empty legs are also called positioning flights, repositioning flights or one-way availability.

Why empty legs exist

Private charter is mostly booked as one-way trips or round trips with long gaps. When someone flies New York to Palm Beach and stays for a week, the aircraft usually flies home empty and comes back later. Maintenance visits, crew changes and new bookings starting elsewhere create the same thing. These legs are a by-product of other people’s trips, which explains both their appeal and their limits:

• The route, date and time are set by the original trip, not by you.
• They appear when other trips are booked — often only days ahead.
• If the original trip moves or is cancelled, the empty leg can move or disappear too.

Who empty legs suit — and who they don’t

Empty legs work best for travelers who can bend around the aircraft’s plans:

• You can travel on short notice, or across a window of a few days.
• You can use more than one airport in your area — most cities have several private-aviation airports.
• You need to get somewhere one way, or you’re happy to plan the return separately.
• You can tell us exactly what you need: request a flight and we’ll search for it and quote you.
• You live near, or often fly between, busy private-aviation hubs. In our review, the most frequent airports were Paris–Le Bourget, Nice, Teterboro, Van Nuys, South Florida, London’s business-aviation airports, the Balearic and Greek islands, and Geneva/Zurich.

They suit you less if you must leave at an exact time on a fixed date, need a guaranteed return, or are planning a once-in-a-lifetime event with no backup. For those trips, a standard charter quote gives you control over the schedule.

How empty legs are priced

The operator sets the price. Some publish a fixed price for the leg; most ask you to request one. When we analysed a month of the empty legs our algorithm tracked (September 2026), only about 4–7% of empty legs included a price, so “Request price” is normal, not a warning sign.

Empty legs are often priced below a comparable one-way charter, because the alternative for the operator is flying without passengers. But there is no standard discount, and a price close to normal charter rates is not unusual — especially for popular routes and dates. Compare against what you would otherwise pay.

Prices are for the whole aircraft. Four people on a midsize jet pay the same as one.

Timing: how far ahead they appear

Most empty legs are short-notice. In that analysis, the median leg was listed two days before departure, and about 44% departed the same day or the next. Around one in five appeared more than a week ahead.

• Choose your regions and usual airports in your account, and keep the daily email of new legs switched on, rather than checking occasionally.
• Reply quickly. A leg that’s available in the morning may be gone by the afternoon.
• Check when a leg was last listed or confirmed. The older that is, the more likely it has changed.

Flexibility and route changes

Many operators can adjust an empty leg a little — leaving from a nearby airport, landing somewhere close to the planned destination, or shifting the time. Whether they can depends on their next trip, crew duty limits, airport slots and fuel stops. Only the operator can say yes.

• Tell the operator every airport you could use and every time you could leave. A wider window gives them more room.
• Expect the price to change if the route changes. The original empty-leg price applies to the original route.
• If the operator mentions flexibility in their listing, it’s still worth confirming your exact route before you plan around it.

What can go wrong

Because an empty leg depends on someone else’s trip, plan for change:

• The original trip changes. If the paying customer moves their flight, the empty leg moves with it — or is cancelled.
• Another traveler books first. Until your booking is confirmed, the leg isn’t yours.
• Times shift. Departure can move by hours. Leave slack before meetings, events or connections.
• Weather and maintenance. As with any flight, the operator may delay or cancel for safety.

Choosing the right aircraft

Seats aren’t the only limit — luggage space, range and cabin height matter as much. Rough guide by category (actual capacity is whatever the operator states for that aircraft):

• Tell the operator the number and size of bags, and anything bulky — golf bags, skis, strollers.
• Weight matters on smaller aircraft, especially on hot days or short runways. Be accurate about passengers and luggage.
• Longer legs in smaller aircraft may need a fuel stop. Ask whether one is planned.

Checking the operator

The company that flies you — the operator — holds the certificate that allows it to carry paying passengers and is responsible for the flight. That’s an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in most countries, or a Part 135 certificate in the United States. Brokers and platforms, including us, don’t operate flights.

• Ask for the operator’s legal name and certificate number. If you book with us, your booking terms name the operator that flies you.
• Ask whether the aircraft is on the operator’s certificate.
• If it matters to you, ask whether the operator holds an independent safety audit (programs such as ARGUS or Wyvern publish these). Not having one doesn’t make an operator unsafe, and having one isn’t a guarantee — it’s one more piece of information.
• Read the operator’s cancellation and refund terms before paying.

Questions to ask before you book

Booking, contracts and payment

• You sign a charter agreement with the operator, or book through a broker or booking agent who arranges it for you. Read who the contracting parties are and who operates the flight.
• Pay the party named on the contract, through the payment method they state. Be cautious about last-minute changes to bank details — confirm them by phone with a number you already have.
• Get the confirmed route, date, time window, aircraft type, passenger count, total price and cancellation terms in writing.
• Send passenger details exactly as on passports or IDs, and on time.

On the day: luggage, pets, borders

• Private flights usually leave from a private terminal (often called an FBO). The operator tells you where to go and how early to arrive — usually much less time than for an airline.
• International flights still need passports, visas and customs. Some private terminals handle this on site; others may involve extra steps.
• Pets are often welcome on private aircraft, but rules for entering other countries can be strict. Check the destination’s requirements well ahead.
• Don’t bring anything you wouldn’t take on an airline without checking first — rules on dangerous goods apply to private flights too.

Getting home again

An empty leg is one way. For the return you can watch for another empty leg back, book a scheduled flight, or ask an operator for a regular one-way charter quote. If you need to be home by a certain date, book the return as a regular trip and treat any matching empty leg as a bonus.

Sharing a flight

Sharing means two parties split a whole-aircraft charter — useful when you have spare seats or want to bring the cost down. On our Shared flights board you can post a flight you’d share — or tick “open to sharing” on a request — and privately express interest in someone else’s; we match you and agree the details with each party.

• The operator must approve the shared flight; we ask on your behalf.
• Agree the split, luggage, timing and what happens if someone withdraws before anyone pays — your quote and booking terms set these out.
• We quote and book the whole aircraft; we don’t sell individual seats.
• Your privacy is kept: posts show no names or contact details, interest is sent to us privately, and we match the parties ourselves.

How we work

Jettura finds empty-leg deals and well-priced private flights for private flyers worldwide. Our proprietary AI finds empty legs from operators worldwide the moment they appear and matches flyers who want to share a jet; we show you the ones in your regions and quote any flight you request — a listed leg, a similar route, a shared flight, or any trip you tell us about. Joining is free.

Our quote is the full price you pay us for the whole aircraft. It includes our service fee, states what is included and excluded, and how long it’s valid. When you accept, you sign our booking terms online within 2 hours, and we send your invoice. Availability isn’t guaranteed until payment is received, and the flight is confirmed once we have your payment and the operator confirms. We stay with you until you land. A request, a quote or a signed acceptance is never a booking or a hold.

Jettura arranges flights as booking agent. Every flight is operated by a licensed air operator that holds operational control of the aircraft. We don’t operate aircraft and don’t rate operators’ safety.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Empty leg

A flight an aircraft must make without passengers, offered to travelers.

Positioning / repositioning

Moving an aircraft to where its next trip starts, or back to base.

Operator

The company that holds the operating certificate and flies the aircraft.

AOC

Air Operator Certificate — the authorization to carry paying passengers.

Part 135

The US rules under which on-demand charter operators are certificated.

Broker

A company that arranges charter on a traveler’s behalf; it doesn’t operate the aircraft.

FBO

A private terminal and service provider at an airport.

Whole-aircraft price

One price for the aircraft and flight, whatever the number of passengers within the limit.

Fuel stop

A landing to refuel on the way, needed when a trip is longer than the aircraft’s range.

Last reviewed October 2026. Figures on pricing and timing come from our analysis of the empty legs our algorithm tracked in September 2026 and will change over time.