1A full charter and an empty leg charter, side by side
On a full charter you name the route and the date, and the operator brings the aircraft to you. If the aircraft is based somewhere else, the flight to collect you and the flight home afterwards are part of what you pay for, whether the quote itemises them or not.
On an empty leg charter it is the other way round. The route and the date exist first, because another client's charter created them, and you fit into the flight. The operator has already committed the crew, the fuel and the fees, so the empty sector is offered for whatever it will fetch. That is the whole reason it is cheaper, and it is also why it cannot be moved: the aircraft has to be at the other end on that day for the next booking.
2Operator or broker
A charter operator holds the aircraft and the air operator certificate, employs the crew and flies the flight. A broker resells the operator's flight and adds a margin. Both can sell you an empty leg charter, and the same leg can be on a broker's site days after it appeared on the operator's own page.
On this site every leg is read from the operator's own website and the enquiry goes to that operator. We are a listing service, not a broker, we take no commission and we do not quote. Whoever you book through, the flight is flown by the operator and the contract is a charter contract.
3What you are quoted for
The quote is for the whole aircraft, one way, on the published sector. It is not a seat and it is not a return. Where operators publish a price on our board, the median in euros works out at 780 a seat divided by the seats the operator listed. Most legs carry no published price at all, 1,543 of the 2,264 on the board right now, and the price comes with the operator's reply.
What the price includes beyond the flight itself, catering, ground transport, de-icing, overnight crew costs if any, is the operator's to state in the quote, and it varies. Ask for the quote in writing with what it covers. The cost guide has the full table by aircraft type.
4What an empty leg charter cannot do
It cannot wait for you. The date is the date, and the aircraft leaves with or without a passenger. It cannot come back: an empty leg is one way, and on our board only 208 of 1,097 upcoming legs have any flight listed in the opposite direction inside a week, all of them separate flights. And it cannot be promised: we have watched 622 legs disappear before their departure date, half of them inside 4.5 days of appearing, usually because the charter that created them changed or the sector sold. One way private jet flights covers the way back.
5Finding one
Search the live list by city, country or date, browse a city or country page, or set a route alert and be told when a leg appears on your route. In the thirty days to early September 2026 we recorded 3,052 new empty legs, and close to half of what we record is published inside the final week before departure. How to find empty leg flights goes through it step by step.
6Questions people ask
What is an empty leg charter?
A private jet charter on a sector the operator has to fly anyway to reposition the aircraft. Same aircraft and crew as a full charter, at the operator's price for that one way sector rather than for a round trip planned around you.
Is an empty leg charter the same as a normal charter?
The flight is. The difference is who sets the route and the date: on a full charter you do, on an empty leg the operator already has, and you fit into it. The contract is a charter contract either way.
How much does an empty leg charter cost?
The published price is for the whole aircraft, one way, on that sector. Most legs on the board carry no published price at all, so most quotes come with the operator's reply. The live figures, and the breakdown by aircraft type, are on the cost guide.
Do I book an empty leg charter with the operator or a broker?
Either can sell it. On this site the enquiry goes straight to the operator that flies the leg, with no commission. Through a broker the same flight carries the broker's margin.
Can an empty leg charter be a return trip?
No. The aircraft is repositioning one way. Only 208 of 1,097 upcoming legs on our board have any flight going the other way inside a week, and those are separate flights.