Private Business Jet Charter - Empty Leg Deals
| Private jets charter is a good option for light users who do not wish to purchase a fraction or a whole aircraft. Whilst a day return is the most cost-effective way of utilising a normal air charter, some great deals up to 75% off can be found on 'empty legs'. |
What is an empty leg?
If a jet is chartered from New York to Los Angeles one way, the charter company will still have to fly the jet back to its home base (in this case New York) within a day or two rather than leave it parked in LA. Usually the operator cannot sell this flight back to paying passengers so it must fly back empty - hence the name 'empty leg', also known as a 'deadhead' or a 'backhaul'. Because flying empty planes costs money, the original one-way customer pays a surcharge to cover the cost of the dead leg.
It is thought that over one third of all private business jet flights are actually empty legs - although this can be reduced by an well managed aircraft operator using sound logistics. Empty legs are common on aircraft with fractional owners and jet card members - where multiple clients make many one-way flights.
Like an empty airline seat sold cheaply at the last minute, the jet operator will offer to sell these empty leg flights at a highly reduced price to the normal jet charter rate - after all, the marginal cost is small and any revenue received will help the bottom line of the company.
For example, executive jet broker StudioJet regularly offers a 'large jet' empty leg for $18,000 - $28,000 from to Los Angeles to New York - this works between $1,400 and £2,100 per person on a full load of 13 passengers. Booking last minute one-way airfares in first class on a scheduled airline would be around the same price.
Studiojet offer an empty legs on a large jet from London to New York for between $60,900 and $85,000 - for 13 passengers this is $4,700 to $6,500 per person. Consider a last minute one way flight in British Airways First from London to New York could easily cost £4,500 (over $6,000).
Note, when getting a quote for an empty leg ask about the cost of any other fees and airport taxes.
There are many private jet operators and brokers offering empty legs, such as Bluestarjets, Onesky, Virgin Charter in the US and International Air Charter plc in the UK. Onesky has an email notification service which sends empty leg updates out to subscribers. With the internet it has become even easier now to find that empty leg - some companies will even allow you to make bids for empty legs.
Empty leg flights are available to many destinations world-wide - not just the US and Europe - but obviously if you are flying to a 'popular' destination (Caribbean, Mediterranean, major business centres) it will be much easier to find an available empty leg.
So if you have some flexibility in your travel plans then finding an empty leg could mean flying on an executive jet at a very reasonable cost.
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