London

Empty leg flights from London

London produces more empty leg flights than any other city on this list, and the reason is structural rather than seasonal. The city has a large based fleet and constant outbound charter, and every paid charter that leaves London has to be repositioned afterwards. That returning sector is the empty leg: the aircraft, crew and handling are already paid for, so the operator publishes the seat or the whole aircraft at a reduced one-way price rather than flying it empty.

In practice that means London is one of the few places where waiting for a match is a realistic strategy. Short European corridors refill quickly — London to Nice, London to Paris, London to Ibiza and London to Dublin are the ones that reappear most often on the board above. Longer sectors to the Gulf and the Atlantic show up less frequently but with more notice.

Which London airport

The city name in a listing is doing a lot of work. Luton, Farnborough, Biggin Hill and Stansted are four different drives and four different arrival experiences, so check which one before you commit:

• Farnborough and Biggin Hill are the quickest on the ground — dedicated business aviation, minimal queueing.
• Luton has the most movements, so it carries the widest choice of dates and aircraft.
• Stansted takes the largest aircraft, which is where the heavy and ultra-long-range types tend to appear.
• Oxford turns up occasionally and suits anything heading west or to the Midlands.

What an empty leg from London costs

Prices on this page are the operator's own published figure for the whole aircraft, not a per-seat fare, and they are shown exactly as listed. Where the operator has not published one, the card says so rather than estimating. The saving against a standard charter is real but it is not fixed, and it depends entirely on how badly the operator wants to avoid flying that sector empty. Our guide to the most affordable way to charter a private jet compares the options, and the private jet cost per hour breakdown shows what a standard charter runs for comparison.

Aircraft on the London board range from light jets on the short hops through to heavy metal on the long ones — the Citation XLS and Citation Latitude on European sectors, the Global 6000 and Gulfstream G550 when the route is intercontinental. Browsing by aircraft type is often faster than by route if cabin size matters more than the exact date.

What to know before you enquire

An empty leg exists because of the paid charter around it, so it can be sold or moved without notice. Every listing here is recorded from what the operator published, and each one carries the date we last saw it. Treat what you see as a strong indication rather than a guarantee, and confirm the detail with the operator before you plan around it.

Empty Leg List is a listing service. We are not a broker, not an operator, and not party to any booking, and we take no commission. Your enquiry goes to the operator covering the route, who confirms availability and the final price with you directly. If nothing on the board matches, you can request a charter quote and we forward it to operators flying that corridor.

Where these flights go

Working out the busiest corridors…

What flies here

Working out which aircraft show up…

Airports

Where the aircraft actually go

Other cities on the list

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